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muttered. “Socks will have to do,
I guess.”
    “If you leave me here, I’ll tell you how to
get off-world.”
    “I’d rather you showed me.” He flashed a
taunting smile and she went wild. Jerking to the side, she slammed
his fist against the wall with finger-numbing force. Her boot heel
stomped his unprotected instep and her sharp little elbow jabbed
his stomach.
    Ashton grunted. Pain radiated from his foot
and his middle, and his captive slipped from his grasp. She fled
down the empty corridor, boot heels ringing against the floor.
Focusing past the pain, Ashton ran after her. She’d reached the
security door at the end of the corridor and her palm was pressed
against the scanner. He intentionally slowed his pace. Let her open
the door. That was one less obstacle.
    The door slipped open and she stepped out
into the sunlight. Ashton was right behind her. His arm circled her
chest, forcing her hands to her sides. She kicked back at him, but
he managed to avoid her flailing feet.
    “Stop it,” he snapped. “I’ll knock you
unconscious and sling you over my shoulder. Is that what you
want?”
    Her head slammed back into his chest.
Another grunt escaped Ashton.
    “Fuck you!” she panted.
    Her temper finally exhausted his patience.
Ashton picked her up and shoved her down onto a grassy patch of
ground. With quick, angry movements, he tugged off her boots and
her knee-high stockings. He tied her feet together with the
stockings and threw the boots as far from her as he could.
    “How is this going to help?” she demanded.
“Are you going to carry me all the way back to Halley Prime?”
    He didn’t respond. Sitting down beside her,
he tossed one leg over her hips to hold her to the ground and
turned his attention to the control band.
    “What’s your plan, big shot?”
    Ashton ignored her. She occasionally shoved
against his leg with her bound hands, but most of her belligerence
had been expended. The configuration of the control panel was only
slightly different from models he’d used before. He established a
data link and confirmed their location. “Are you employed by
Corrections or is your stay here mandatory?”
    Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing.
    The communication functions available on the
band were minimal. He couldn’t contact Halley Prime and there was
no one on Borrelly he could trust. He turned his focus to
transportation. He needed to get off this outpost as quickly as
possible.
* * * * *
    Corry couldn’t believe he’d actually done
it. They were off Borrelly with no one the wiser. She hadn’t told
Korbin when she intended to make the switch, so it could be hours
before they realized she was missing. Ashton left her shackled to
the navigator’s chair and basically ignored her.
    “How’d ya do it, hot shot?”
    He leaned back, his hands hooked behind his
head, as Borrelly became a miniature sphere on the vidscreen.
Swiveling in the pilot’s chair, he faced her. “How’d I do what?”
His insolent smirk told her he knew exactly what she asked.
    “How did you authorize our departure without
setting off every alarm on the planet?”
    “Simple security.”
    “Security?” she echoed.
    “It’s sometimes important for the premier to
travel incognito. So a latent program is written into every
coalition security system. Dad can trigger it with a code.”
    “And this program does what exactly?”
    “It overrides all established security
systems, logs a random flight plan and approves access on a
supervisory level.”
    “So, Borrelly’s records will indicate this
ship was used by some randomly generated personnel?”
    “The program is comprehensive enough to
consider probability. It will file a flight manifest appropriate to
an orbit schooner leaving this terminal at this time.”
    “How long has the premier had such a
code?”
    “For as long as I can remember. The code
itself changes periodically, but the ability to travel without
leaving a trail has always been available to