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Prologue
Planet Andor--2145
"Arrest him!"
Hawk struggled to open his eyes as angry voices penetrated his groggy mind. He blinked several times, forcing himself to focus. Two men pulled him from the bed, jerking him to his feet, his shaky legs barely holding his weight.
"You're under arrest for murder and treason."
Pain shot up his arm when the guard on his right tightened his grip, wrenching his wrist behind him, taking something from his sticky hand. Hawk's vision began to clear. Why was the color red all he could see? He glanced down at his naked body not recognizing the red skin as his. Blood. He was covered in blood! His commanding officer, Redmon, pulled back the covers revealing Lissa's pale, naked, bloody body lying on sheets soaked with her blood. Red, everything was red.
Hawk shook his head. He vaguely remembered entering Lissa's quarters. He'd been assigned to find the traitor who was selling military secrets. Lissa called and said she had information for him if the price was right.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Redmon stepped around the bed.
"I don't know what happened. Lissa said she had information for me. I came last night and...."
"You killed her."
Hawk turned toward the accusing man. "No." He recognized the tall, thin man as The Enforcer, the man who would take him to court and order his death for the crime. Crime? Had he committed murder? Lissa was not dead by accident. Someone killed her.
"Sir, I found this in the pocket of his pants."
Redmon took the paper from the guard's hand and read. "This is proof of treason all right." He handed the paper to The Enforcer."Take Hawk to the holding cell."
A guard wrenched Hawk's hands behind his back and slapped restraining devices on his wrists. With a man on each arm, and one pushing at his back, he was dragged from Lissa's quarters, down the hall toward the lift. He tried to comprehend what was happening, but everything blurred. The lift doors opened and he was shoved to the back, his head hitting the hard metal wall.
Hawk felt fingers of darkness close around him. He shivered when the door opened and he was pulled from the protection of the building into the semi-darkness of early morning. Time had no meaning, neither did his naked state. Few people were on the streets to observe his humiliation. A hovercraft arrived and he was shoved into the cage in the back. He'd seen other people in "the box" as they called it, but it was worse than it looked. His knees were against his chin, his head and neck bent as the guards crammed him into a space too small for any man.
The ride to the cell turned into the longest of his life. Uniformed men waited outside the drab, windowless cement building. Hawk took a deep breath and wondered if it might be his last. Prisoners often did not live to see their trial date, especially traitors. Relief spread through him when he was pulled from the cage, but fists pounded his ribs from the back when he tried to stand. He doubled over, gasping for breath. Restraints were placed around his ankles and he was dragged inside.
Someone hit his head with a club. A warm trickle ran down his forehead and stung his right eye, but he was beyond pain. Never had he been so helpless. As The Hawk he was a member of the Elite Operatives, Andor's most feared warriors. He'd served his planet with honor, earning the highest commendations--now he was a criminal. Something did not add up, or did it? The whole situation smacked of a set-up, and a damned good one.
The grating sound of a metal door sliding open awakened a fear every operative kept buried--the fear of being caught. He just never dreamed it would be on his home soil. The guards shoved him and he hit the cold, hard floor, the restraints making it impossible to break his fall. The door closed along with his freedom. Animals were treated better than prisoners. He rolled to his side and studied his surroundings. Nothing but impenetrable metal and concrete greeted him. There was no way out, and the thought terrified him.
