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Jhansi came back with some unwelcome news a few days later. "Emma has confessed, and will have her memories wiped," she told the group. "Aoife, however, insists she needs to see Hope first."93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsnAtx9Qme
Hope tensed. Mia and Penny, who'd become her best friends over the last harrowing few weeks, put their hands on her shoulder. "Why?" Penny demanded.
"I don't agree with it any more than you do," Jhansi agreed. "But the law is the law; we have to fulfil all our prisoners' requests. It's another rule we were told to agree to in order to live here."
"I can't see her," Hope said desperately. "I know you said your jail is locked up tighter than Fort Knox, but there's no telling what the hell she might do when she sees me?"
"There are guards around her 24/7," Jhansi assured her. "And we have plenty of ways to ensure inmates can't harm those who come to see them. I know you don't want to see her again after what she did to you, but I will personally guarantee no harm will come to you."
This last part had the meaning of a sacred oath, and just for a moment, Jhansi's green eyes glowed as she spoke those last words. Hope felt goosebumps rise on her skin; Jhansi had clearly put her life on the line to guarantee the younger woman's safety, and though her fears weren't entirely erased, she did feel better. "Alright," she said.
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Aoife didn't look like a prisoner, sitting on the other side of the inpenetrable shield placed between her and Hope. It looked like glass, but when Hope gave it an experimental push, it felt stronger and harder than steel. "Nothing and no one can get through that," Arjun assured her. Jhansi had been unable to be present due to an unexpected issue at the station, but Arjun had willingly sworn a similar oath of protection, and Hope felt better. But the glitter of rage in Aoife's eyes kept her on edge, and the girl placed a protective hand over her stomach. No morning sickness had as yet assailed her, but she felt very nauseous as Aoife's eyes went greedily to the hand covering the small, but growing life inside the girl she'd tried so hard to kidnap.
"Eyes front," Arjun snapped, and Aoife jerked as if stung. Her eyes reluctantly left Hope's belly, and the girl shivered. She wasn't scared of whatever Arjun had done to keep Aoife on the straight and narrow; she was scared of the fresh rage in the older woman's eyes. "And kill the hostility," the Pandoran officer added. "The girl is under my personal protection; I will give my life to ensure her safety and the safety of her unborn child."
Aoife sneered. "No protection is going to save you," she said. "I've got someone very dear to me waiting at the station."
Hope went rigid. "Dad?" she exclaimed, horrified. Arjun put a protective hand on her shoulder, and she calmed down, feeling an unexpected, but not unwelcome burst of warmth from the contact. "What the hell is he doing here?" the girl demanded in a more steady voice.
"He came here as soon as Daisy fed the information to him," Aoife told her. "Of course, it must have taken him some time to work out how to actually cross over, since no one has seen fit to tell me that!"
"That knowledge is forbidden to khange khodah like you," Arjun said coldly. "I have no idea how that come mierda found his way here, but I promise you, he is already being dealt with as we speak."
Aoife glared, but Hope felt nothing but relief. Jhansi would not be kind to James, of this she was certain, and while the inflexible Pandoran code would forbid any outright acts of malice against an offworlder, Hope had the sneaking suspicion James would be in for a hell of a hard time. "Dad can't hurt me, and neither can you," Hope said, as several things clicked into place about Aoife's demeanour. "And you will never get your hands on your great-grandchild."
"How the hell did you...?" Aoife cut off, her glare redoubling. "You needn't think a simple mindwipe will stop me or your father! That child is family! You have no right to keep him or her from us! That is my great-grandchild in there, and I will do all I can to get my hands on them, even if I have to cut the blasted brat from your belly!"93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjlBGsihKj
"And we're done here," Arjun said sharply, pressing a button on his sleeve cuff. The shield immediately turned dark as an alarm blared outside. Hope went white, but Arjun squeezed her shoulder, calming her once more. "I've called for an immediate mind wipe," he told her. "Jhansi will have explained how we can't just mind wipe people at will, save for exceptional circumstances, such as a confession, or a direct threat. The khange khodah is going to get a mind wipe, and when she returns to Earth, she won't recall anything about Pandora, let alone that it exists. Her accomplices will not recall much about it, nor will the come mierda who dared to try and breach our defences. He is already being prepared for an immediate mind wipe and exile, and like his mother, he will not even know Pandora exists."
Hope let out a long sigh of relief. "But doesn't that go against your code?" she asked.
"It would under normal circumstances," Arjun admitted with a smile as he helped her to her feet. "However, I've been in contact with Jhansi the whole time we were here, and she's informed me he has made several very credible threats to your person. I won't go into details, but they were very similar to what the khange khodah threatened you with."
"You're going to have to tell me what those words mean one day," Hope said, still rattled, but relieved enough to make a small jest.
Arjun chuckled. "One day," he promised. "Right now, I feel obliged to escort you to the break room for a nice, bracing cup of tea. The khange khodah's mind wiping will take a bit longer, and once she is returned to Earth along with her son, I'll escort you home."
"I think that sounds like a wonderful idea," Hope said fervently, feeling that, for the first time since her kidnapping, the nightmare was finally close to being over.
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