Bashui Lee watched the shuttle roll into the receiving area. A doctor disembarked first. Next, two XLS soldiers struggled to drag the blindfolded prisoner, Hector Salazar, off the transport. An orderly jogged up to the doctor, who took the needle from him and stuck it in Hector’s arm. Hector went limp. The soldiers carted him off as the doctor approached Lee.
“What’d we get?”
“Not much,” said the doctor. “His brainwave patterns are all over the place. He’s going through some kind of severe emotional trauma. We can’t access his memories without compromising the data. If we run the extraction program we’re likely to get false, misleading data. It would be counter productive. When he calms down we’ll see if we can get what you want out of him.”
When the female bounty hunter exited the transport Lee lowered his voice. “And her?”
“I sent her test results to your datapad. Her DNA is a match. She is his sister. That could explain his trauma. He’s reliving some past memory.”
“She has no idea?”
“None. Somebody ran an extensive memory swipe on her when she was young. It’s a blank slate until age four or five.”
“Delete everything,” said Lee. “This stays between us.”
“Yes, sir.”
The doctor stepped aside and caught up to the soldiers. Lee approached the bounty hunter. He smiled.
“I haven’t received payment,” she said.
Lee nodded and punched a code into his datapad. He glanced up at her. “Ever work outside the Guild?”
“No.”
“Now’s your chance. I have another job for you.”
“Go through the Guild.”
“This requires a level of confidentiality that the Guild can’t provide.”
“Then find someone else.”
“Name your price.”
Her datapad chirped. The payment had already cleared. She turned to leave. “Goodbye, Captain.”
“Our new prisoner needs an escort back to Subdivision headquarters,” said Lee. “It needs to look like an escape. He’ll trust you.”
She kept walking. Lee’s frown deepened. He wasn’t used to being ignored. She reached the transport’s door.
“He’s not your brother,” Lee lied. When she hesitated he continued, “We did some research. Had to know if his claims were valid. We dug deep. Seems your history isn’t readily accessible. But, we found it, eventually. There was no conflict of interest. He’s not related to you…but I know who is. I have your files. It wasn’t easy to get that information. Perhaps you’ve tried?”
She didn’t turn back to look at him. But something in her tone revealed his offer was striking a chord. “What makes you think I care?”
“I’ll give you everything we uncovered about your history plus payment for the job.”
“What happens when I get him there?”
Lee smirked and clasped his hands behind his back. She had walked right into his trap. “You will arm the device that will annihilate Union Subdivision headquarters.”
