The two of them were sitting in a windowless room that looked like it had been made out of a storage container—which meant it probably was a storage container, repurposed. Marce had no idea of its location. He’d been in the room all of ten minutes, placed there by the thugs who had grabbed him, before Ghreni arrived.
“I don’t like the word ‘kidnapped,’” Ghreni said.
“With all due respect, Lord Ghreni, at the moment I don’t really give a damn what you like.”
“Fair enough.” Ghreni leaned back in his chair and considered Marce. “Rumor is that you’re planning to leave End behind.”
“If I were, I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”
“Well, see. There’s a war on, and the duke has noticed that several of his nobles—or their children, adult or otherwise—are now suddenly trying to book passage off the planet.”
“That will happen when there’s a war.”
“I suppose it might,” Ghreni agreed. “The duke doesn’t see it as a vote of confidence in his leadership skills, however, so he’s been inviting those who are interested in leaving to stay.”
“I don’t think you’ve kidnapped me to extend me this invitation, Lord Ghreni,” Marce said.
“No, I suppose that would be going the long way around to do it. You’re correct. I’ve invited you here for other reasons entirely. You’ll recall the other day when I asked your father to assist the duke with the release of imperial funds.”
“I recall him telling you ‘maybe.’”
“He did—which I took to mean ‘no, but politely.’ And to be clear, if that really was his answer, his reasons were both ethically and legally sound. It was a good choice for him to make, for those reasons.”
“I’ll tell him you said that.”
“I don’t doubt that you would,” Ghreni said. “Just not yet. The problem with your father’s answer, legally and ethically admirable as it might be, is that right now the duke really needs that money, because he really needs those weapons. And even ‘maybe’ doesn’t work with the time frame we’re under. So where persuasion didn’t work, compulsion might.”
“You’re holding me for ransom.”
“Yes. And I do apologize for that. Your father isn’t susceptible to other … blandishments that I or the duke might offer. He doesn’t seem interested in money or power or anything else tangible. And he has no patriotism for End or loyalty to the duke. But there’s no doubt that he loves both you and your sister. From there it was just the matter of choosing which of the two of you to pick. We considered your sister…”
Marce laughed at this, and Ghreni as gracefully as possible acknowledged the laugh.
“… but she presented problems in terms of acquisition.”
“You mean that she would have gutted the thugs you sent after her, and then would have come after you next, after they gave you up.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. You were, and I mean this with no disrespect whatsoever, the softer target.”
Marce nodded at this. It was true enough. He was a scientist, and Vrenna was a soldier, or had been before she had taken over Claremont’s constabulary. Of the two of them, he was much more likely to be taken by surprise, and rather less likely to snap anyone’s neck.
“There is also the matter that you are intended to leave the planet, and she’s not.”
“So?”
“You’ve never left End before. You’ve never even gone to the imperial station, even when your sister was in the marines. Your leaving now is interesting.”
“You mentioned there was a war going on.”
“Yes, but I don’t think that’s why you’re leaving. If you were leaving because of the war, it wouldn’t just be you. Your sister and father would be leaving as well, or at least trying to. But it’s just you.” Ghreni reached into his pocket and pulled out a data crypt, laid it on the table. “And by this, at least, you’re not leaving with the family inheritance.”
Marce stared at the data crypt. It had been taken from him when he’d been kidnapped, along with the other personal items that were on his body rather than in the now-missing rucksack.
Ghreni pushed it over to him. “Take it.”
Marce took it, put it in his pocket. “Is it empty?”
“No. I don’t need your pictures and music, and I’m afraid the duke needs more than a hundred thousand marks from your family. Until and unless your father helps us, it’s not as if you’re going anywhere anyway. And because I think he wants you to go, now, I think we’ll get what we want from him.”
“And if you don’t?”
Ghreni shrugged. “For starters, you’re not leaving the planet.”
“‘For starters.’”
“The duke really needs access to that money.”
“Enough to kill me?”
“He wouldn’t be killing you himself. But now that you mention it, at the moment, hundreds and possibly thousands of people are dying daily in this stupid rebellion. If placing one life in the balance—yours—means thousands more will live, isn’t that a risk worth taking?”
“You really just attempted to morally justify kidnapping me.”
Ghreni shrugged again. “It’s certainly an argument I can see the duke making to ease his conscience. Whether it holds water is not something I think he’ll trouble himself with. The duke is many things, but a great thinker is not one of them.”
“This isn’t going to work.”
“We’ll see. Either way, war excuses many lapses, especially if the duke gets his weapons and quashes the rebellion. In the meantime, Lord Marce, you get to find out how much you are worth to your father. If not for yourself, then for whatever reason he has for sending you off the planet. You don’t want to tell me what that is, do you?”
“It’s not any of your business.”
“I know you believe that. But you might be surprised at the scope of my business.”
“Since the scope of your business clearly involves kidnapping, I don’t think anything you’d do at this point would surprise me much.”
“Again, fair point. I’m willing to listen if you want to tell me why you’re really planning to leave End.”
Marce stayed silent, staring at Ghreni.
“That’s fine,” Ghreni said, after a minute. “If your father doesn’t move quickly enough, we’ll be torturing you a bit to motivate him. Video and all of that. While we’re doing that I’ll have them ask you about this again.”
“Torture doesn’t get truthful answers.”
“That’s what they say. Again, we’ll see.” Ghreni stood up and pointed to the far end of the container. “In the meantime, there’s a toilet in that far corner, and over here there’s a cooler with water and a few snacks.” He pointed toward the near end. “The door is here. If you get within five feet of it, an electric current goes through it. If you touch it, you probably won’t die, but you’ll wish you had. If you still somehow manage to open it anyway, my people on the other side will make you wish you hadn’t. You understand?”
Marce nodded.
“Good.” Ghreni considered Marce. “I do apologize about this. This wasn’t how I would have done it. And I realize this will make things awkward between us from here on out.”