Chapter 8
"Is there anything else you can remember?"
Clarissa shook her head. "I'm sorry" she said hitting her head. "We had no time to react when whoever this person was busted in. They came in firing some sort of black bean at everyone."
Christine wrapped her arms around the woman. "Take a deep breath now" she said padding her on the back. "I can understand how that would unsettle anybody."
Zach was examining the studio where Alain had been kidnapped from. "Did you happen to have a chance to see which way they went?"
Clarissa thought for a minute. "Well, they had to leave out that studio door. But I don't know what direction they went afterward."
Zach smiled at her. "That's all right now" he said walking over, and pulling her into the same hug Cristina had done just a minute ago. "I'm just grateful that you were able to inform me about it before whoever this was got too far."
Shaking Clarissa's hand again, Zack and Christine walked out of the martial arts studio in F3, and turn towards the transport center.
"What do you think bro?"
Zach looked thoughtful for a minute. "It's odd that whoever this was targeted our sister specifically" he said as they near the transport center. "I mean why didn't they take any of the other students. From what Alain says they're just as skilled in martial arts as she is, so why just her?"
As the neared the transport center however they spotted a shady individual sneaking into the transport center carrying a large chest.
"What's that all about?"
"No idea, so let's see what we can figure out."
Sticking to the shadows the two of them followed the Shadey individual into the transport center and washed as they headed for sector A1. Knowing that this was where people send messages from, if they did not want to be identified themselves, or if they didn't have a comcom to work with to begin with. The two of them followed the shady individual to sector A1 and after coming out watched the individual sneak along the streets heading for the comcom center.
"Could this be some underworld business" Cristine whispered to Zach as they followed the individual into the center.
"No idea" Zack whispered back. "Let's just hope that this isn't connected to Alain's kidnapping."
Realizing that if it was connected to Alain's kidnapping that the kidnapper would be contacting Zack, he walked back out of the center so that when his comcom went off he would not alert the kidnapper to his presence. Christine being far more skilled at stealth in the shadows continue to shadow the individual.
It was only six minutes later when Zack's comcom rang.
After waiting a couple of minutes, Zack answered. "This is Zach Starfield."
"Starfield. If you want your sister back, you must travel outside the city to the Badlands, and bring the ring that your Family has had in their possession for generations. You will be called as soon as it is seen that you have left the city."
"May I ask who I'm speaking with?"
"No, you may not."
With that the caller ended the call.
Sighing Zack leaned against the wall watching for his sister to come out of the center. It wasn't long before he saw the same individual walk out of the center, with his sister Christine only about six steps behind him. She seems to be talking to somebody else on her comcom, and so he was paying no attention to her. Zack took a good look at the man that had apparently Jess called him. He was a short individual. Only standing about 5 foot three. He wore a long trench coat, over what looked to Zack like a navy-blue blazer.
"I haven't seen one of those for some years" Zack thought.
The man was also caring the same case that he had had when they walked in. It didn't look any lighter either.
"If he has Alain in that case, I wonder how strong he is for carrying her that kind of distance. After all Alain isn't lite. Even though she isn't fat."
Just as the man was turning towards the transport center, three individuals stepped in front of him.
"Drop the case" one of them spoke.
Instead of doing as commanded, the man whipped out what look like a laser pistol and took aim at the center individual. None of them had their weapons out, but that didn't stop somebody else from interfering. Without warning the man was struck in the back by Christine who have been walking behind him. The attack was so surprising to the man that he drops the case, his pistol, and he fell to the ground wheezing the breath having been knocked out of him.
Zach stepped out, drew his energy saber, and held it an inch above the man's neck.
"Are you going to do as these officers command?"
The man looked up at Zack in surprise, then snarled as he Lord himself to the pavement.
"So, you may have determined that I was the one who called you Starfield, but that's not gonna help you get your sister back."
"Maybe not" Zack said not wavering from his position. "That doesn't mean that I can't help the officers arrest a criminal though."
As Zack was speaking, 1 of the officers approached.
"Thank you, Mr. Starfield" he said, pulling out handcuffs, and cuffing the man's hands behind his back.
"It's my sister Christine here you'll need to thank" Zack said storing his saber back in his sheath, and pointing to Christine who was nearby. "After all she was the one who knocked him down, I just stood over him to make sure he didn't get back up."
The officer turned to Christine. "Thank you very much miss."
"Anytime officer" Christine replied showing what she had held in her hand. Instead of a comcom like Zack thought it was, she was instead holding a paperweight that she had picked up from the comcom center. "I overheard this man making a comcom call to my brother, and I wasn't gonna let him get away."
"Family matter" One of the other officers asked coming over to pick up the case.
Zach grimaced. "You can say that" he said leaning against the wall. "My younger sister Alain was kidnapped from her martial arts studio in F3 earlier today, and this man just made a call telling me to leave the city if I wanted to learn where she was."
The officers looked around. "Sounds like blackmailed to me" the last officer said coming over and picking up the pistol the man had managed to drop.
Zack and Christine both grimaced. "I'm afraid you're right" Zack said. "But I can't leave Alain in the clutches of whoever has her, so I'm afraid I'll be heading out of the city for a bit."
The first officer turned to Christine. "Will you be going with him miss?"
Christine shook her head. "Somebody's got to keep an eye on the house while Zack's away."
With a salute the officers nodded to the two of them, and dragging the prisoner headed into the transport center to take him to prison.
"How soon will you be leaving Zack?"
Zach shrugged as the two of them walked in the transport center to return home. As soon as I can pick up the ring mentioned in the phone call" he said. "As I told the officer I don't want to leave Alain in their clutches much longer than is necessary."
As Zack and Christine walked into their house, Christine walked over to a shelf. Tapping a set of boxes in a specific pattern the shelf slid away revealing an ornate dagger that Zack had never seen before.
"I don't know if you'll be able to use this" she said pulling the dagger out. "But I'd feel a lot better if you had another weapon to rely on other than your energy saver. After all it's certainly possible that Alain was kidnapped so that somebody could get their hands on the saber itself."
Zach took the dagger nodding. "I thought of that too" he said strapping the dagger to his left arm. "Which is why I'm actually leaving the energy saver with you."
Christine's eyes flew open and surprise at that. "What were you going to use to defend yourself outside the city then?"
Zach smiled, and tapped the same shelf that Christine had. To her surprise a different section slid out revealing a worn looking blade.
"This was the original sword I learned to fight with before the energy saber was made" Zach said pulling out the sword, and replacing it with the energy saber. He tapped the shelf again and it slid shut so that nobody else could find it. Luckily, he was the only one that could open this section of the shelf, so now nobody was going to be getting the saber.
Christine hugged Zach, then reached into the jewelry box pulling out the family ring.
Zack gasped as he saw it. "That's the one I saw in my dream" he exclaimed his eyes wide.
"Who was wearing this ring?"
"I think she was called son" Zach answered, his voice trailing off as he said the name.
"Mom" Both Zack and Christine exclaimed and Zach put the ring into a pouch he strapped to his waist.