Chaos erupted around us. I heard several humans shouting as well as furious humming from Caeorleians. The weapons’ fire and all the sounds were overwhelming. I wanted to get Yaseke to safety, but there was fighting all around us.
“No! No!” Tubinsfor shouted.
I looked up just in time to see him hit by twin beams of light. He flew backward, landing on the ground with a thump. He tried getting up but couldn’t. Blood flowed down his arm, and he’d lost his weapon. A Caeorleian guard flipped him over and roughly secured his arms. The general screamed and another human rushed in front of us, so close I could’ve touched him.
A shot hit the ground close enough my right side went numb. The Caeorleians were using stunning weapons, but the humans weren’t.
Yaseke groaned.
“Tziu!” Was he hit when I was watching Tubinsfor? I ran my hands over his chest. I couldn’t see any blood, but he wasn’t making any sound beyond that groan. We had to move. I grabbed his body and rolled, tucking him against my chest. He clutched my sides.
“Dade. Stop!”
There was no chance I was stopping until Yaseke was safe. Why had he come back? I shoved up into a crouch, ready to pick him up and run.
I didn’t get the chance.
I fought against the hands holding my shoulders, refusing to let go of my tziu, not even when blood ran down my back. Yaseke’s head snapped back as I lunged forward.
“Dade!” His hum broke through the sounds of my enraged shouting. He wrapped one hand around the arm I was using to pin him to my chest. I fought harder. I’d get him free.
Then Yaseke punched me in the jaw. My head exploded back, and Yaseke cried out.
“Shipzu! That hurt!”
I froze, stunned my tziu had hit me.
“Let him go,” Yaseke said. I gasped as the claws in my shoulders were yanked out. Blue blood dripped on Yaseke’s cheek. “Damn you, Polsh! Look what you did to him. What’s wrong with you?”
“We don’t have time to go searching through the jungle for you, and he was going to run.” I glanced over my shoulder. Polsh stood right behind me, his fingertips stained blue with my blood, but it wasn’t the only blood on him by far. He was spattered with red blood across his black suit.
“Damn right I was!” My shock wore off fast. I looked back at Yaseke. “What in the hell is going on?”
Yaseke’s chest hurt. He understood his isit’s need to protect him and the young, but they were supposed to stay together. If he’d died….
“Why did you hit me?”
Of course his chest hurt because of Dade. Not just because the big male had knocked him down, either. “We don’t split up again. And we’re going on vacation.”
Dade frowned. “Okay. But why did you hit me?”
“You were freaking out.”
“I thought you were shot.” Yaseke leaned forward, resting his head against Dade’s chest. The words were barely out of his mouth before Dade began to shudder.
“I know you did. But I’m okay. Polsh came, just in time. Witani and the young are already on the way back to the city, with more than enough guards to keep them safe. The nelhos were defeated, he says.”
“Don’t tell me! I can’t know about the battle in the city. I don’t know how much of that you heard, but they did something to me. I don’t know what, but they might be using me to gain information.”
“We heard,” Polsh said grimly. “I survived the first attack. Seral and I worked together, but I had to know my tziu was safe. Our young could’ve….” He shook his head. “Thank you, Dade. You saved their lives. The least I could do was save yours, in return.”
“Well, maybe you should’ve tried doing it without cutting him up,” Yaseke snapped. He was so scared, it came out as anger. “And you. I don’t want to see someone holding a weapon on you again.”
Dade cupped his head and gently stroked his cheek. “I’m sorry you had to save me.” He leaned down. “I didn’t want to send you away, I just wanted you safe.”
Yaseke wasn’t going to let him off that easy. “Well, it almost got you killed!” He hadn’t missed the sight of Buphet’s body slumped at the base of a tree in the clearing. “We are better together.”
“Not this time. He would’ve hurt you, to hurt me. Tubinsfor didn’t want to kill me. He wanted my cooperation.”
“We need to get back.” Polsh interrupted them, and Yaseke tried to stand up. His face heated as Dade held him tighter and refused to let go. He slid their lips together, another short kiss, more need than passion.
“I love you,” Dade said quietly. He stood up and helped Yaseke to his feet, not letting go once they were both upright.
“I love you too.” Yaseke squeezed Dade’s fingers. “Let’s go home.”
The walk back to the city was made in silence. Two guards had retrieved Chip’s litter. The male lay completely still, his eyes covered with cloth and his ears muffled after Dade explained what he suspected to Polsh. The male Dade called General Tubinsfor was the only attacker to survive. He raged behind the gag crammed into his mouth as he was force-marched in the middle of the column of guards.
Polsh’s best marksman walked with his weapon pointed right at the defeated nelho’s back. They were taking no chances. The dead soldiers had been left to rot in the jungle until teams could remove them, but the two dead Caeorleian guards were respectfully carried between the guards not protecting the sides of their column. Buphet’s body stayed where it fell. No one was willing to touch the traitor.
Yaseke had spit on the broken corpse of the man who’d ruined his entire family all for the sake of power.
“We need to go straight to the Council when we get back,” Polsh said. “Seral needs you—”
“Don’t. I can’t be involved in anything that reveals sensitive information.” Dade kept his eyes on the nelho too. “You need to get word to Seral. Ryker and Nicklaus need to be quarantined. I need to be as soon as we get back too. General Tubinsfor told me he and his co-conspirators orchestrated everything that happened to us in an attempt to find the Collectors. Buphet said he put trackers on Yaseke and me. If they escaped medical notice when we were checked when we got back, then they’re something your bio net didn’t discover. Yaseke needs to be checked too.”
“We can go on vacation.” Yaseke wasn’t going to let that go. Dade deserved a different life. Yaseke had never seen him panic like he had when they broke his standoff with the general. For once, Yaseke wished he could share his emotions with Dade; it might have calmed his isit before Polsh had been forced to hurt him. “After Larede looks at your shoulders.”
Dade protested, “I’m sure there are many people hurt far more than I am. I’ll heal.”
“You’re still bleeding!” Yaseke frowned. “Stop arguing.” Stubborn male.
Burning areas of the city sent billows of choking black smoke through the streets. There were very few vehicles, other than those containing soldiers or severely injured people with doctors working frantically over them. Yaseke ached for the pain and suffering of his people, but there were others to help them heal emotionally. They needed to find Pira and Maerit, and then Dade could hide himself away all he wanted.
The residence was a hive of activity. Throbbing hums and high-pitched wailing of women and children thrummed through the air. The sounds were garbled and broken, disrupted by the sheer amount of input. Yaseke couldn’t understand anyone, but the tears of mothers, sisters, husbands, brothers as they found each other in joy or shared grief broke his heart.
He was lucky. Against all the odds, his family was safe. He squeezed Dade’s fingers, more determined than ever to stay together. The war wasn’t over, not yet, not if what the nelho said to Dade was true. They just had a new enemy to fight they’d never known about. He’d keep his soldier home, though.
Dade spoke with Seral, but only to share with him what he knew about the general and the plans he’d gloated over. As head of the guard, it would be Seral’s duty to share the updated informatio
n with the Council, Modoalm, and Witani. Fieo stood grimly to the side of the room when both Nicklaus and Ryker were escorted to the medical wing. For Nicklaus’ sake, Yaseke was glad Fieo had survived.
Maybe that would give the pair the impetus they needed to get past whatever was keeping them apart.
“When we’re there, Larede can look at your wounds,” Yaseke said. The calm doctor was the only one they all trusted, so Modoalm ordered him to run the scans. Chip was also isolated in a room in the medical wing. Witani had gone with the young to a building at the center of the residence. Many young had been separated from their families, and she was helping reunite as many as possible with their parents. With the young safe, and Dade’s report given, there wasn’t much to keep his isit busy, but he kept trying to put off going to their rooms.
“I’m fine.” Dade was clearly exhausted. His shoulders were slumped, and he was walking much slower than usual. The rubble had blocked several halls, so they were forced to take the long way around.
“You’re not, and you know it. You’re exhausted, injured, and you need help.” Yaseke pulled Dade to a stop, careful not to tug on his arms. They were probably sore. “Just let me take care of you for once.”
Dade opened his mouth.
“Please,” Yaseke begged. He hid a smile when Dade sighed and nodded. “Good.”
Larede had Nicklaus and Ryker on beds with bio nets activated over them. “There you are.” He hustled over to them. He hugged Yaseke and smiled at Dade. “I was worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure you are.” Larede rolled his eyes. “That’s why you’re here, again.”
“Did Seral tell you what to look for?” Dade asked.
“Not really. You believe there is some sort of passive surveillance in your body?”
“The general wasn’t exactly in a mood to lie. He thought he’d won and I’d do exactly what he expected me to do. There wouldn’t be any point to lying.” Seral had already raised that question. Buphet had severely limited access to Ryker and Nicklaus after the rescue from the ship. Before that, the general had no way of knowing exactly who’d wind up where. Yaseke thought testing Ryker and Nicklaus was unnecessary, based on their severe fear of doctors, but they’d both agreed to it.
“It must not be registering as a foreign body, whatever he’s claimed. You were all scanned, and other than the devices found implanted in Ryker when he was first sent down with Seral, nothing out of place was discovered by the bio net.” Larede frowned.
“But would it catch everything? We’re not Caeorleian. Your technology might not be fully reliable.”
“That’s a concern. For now, though, I’d like to try with the bio net on both you and Yaseke.” Larede ushered them over to a pair of beds on the opposite side of the room.
“I’d like you to heal Dade’s shoulders while the scan is in progress, please.” Yaseke was ready to insist if Dade argued, but he kept his word and didn’t object.
“That’s fine. You’ve been through a lot since you came to Caeorleia, Dade. Since you’ve been refusing full scans and care, you’re probably far more run down than you need to be. With your consent I can treat your wounds and also help realign your metabolism to deal with the strain on your body. Since we need to do a molecular scan, down to the basic building blocks of your body, it is the perfect time to do it.”
Dade grimaced as he sank back on the bed and the bio net shimmered over him. “I’m going to be here for a while anyway, might as well.”
Yaseke leaned over the bed. He couldn’t touch Dade with the bio net in place, but he could hear the strain in Dade’s voice. Eye contact with Dade was the best he could do.
“It’ll be okay. This won’t take longer than absolutely necessary. There are guards outside the door, and Larede won’t let anything happen to any of us.”
“I swear.” Larede nodded. “I only want to help.”
“And I’ll be right here in the bed so you can keep an eye on me.” Yaseke smiled. “We can talk about where we’re going to go on vacation.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I felt better than I had in a very long time. I didn’t like the fact the feeling came from more medical manipulation by a doctor, but the exhaustion that had dragged my body down was gone. Larede had already gone over what he found with me right after he finished the scan. Now he was trying to explain it to everyone he’d tested over another meal in Seral’s suite.
I had never been part of someone’s inner circle before. It was almost like we were an informal council.
“They’re even smaller than the nanos we found in Ryker’s blood, not much bigger than the nucleus of a cell, in fact.” Larede pointed to the image hovering over the table. “At least individually.” He expanded the image outward on Seral’s personal com set up in the middle of the suite lounge. “See, these infiltrate the sensory organs and then interlock, creating a microscopic machine geared to see and hear what the carrier does. The created device also transmits.”
“You found these in Yaseke and Dade?” Modoalm asked. I’d asked Seral to include his father and Witani. As Toleral, Modoalm needed the information Larede had discovered, and he had the power to ensure the necessary measures were taken. Since the attack, couples joined in besedad were seldom seen apart, so Ovrumi was there too.
“No, just Dade. There is a chance these micro nano structures cannot exist in pure Caeorleian blood.”
Witani leaned back in her chair. She rested a hand against her abdomen and rubbed it absently. “What about Ryker and Nicklaus?” Her isit, Polsh, reached over and slid a hand beside hers, cupping the slight swell that was just beginning to show.
“They do have a similar genetic makeup, but there are differences in each male. I couldn’t find any of these micro nanos in them, however.”
“But Buphet didn’t have access to them,” I pointed out. “Seral kept him far from Ryker, and Nicklaus never goes anywhere alone outside his suite. Tubinsfor said he didn’t need Buphet’s tracker. But if they’re active only in me, he might’ve had them inserted when Buphet had us tracked—without ever telling him.”
“True. I found these same micro nanos in vast quantities in Chip; however, the network in his body is far more extensive than in Dade’s. His mind is nearly as much microscopic machine as it is organic matter.”
Modoalm hummed. “Can they be neutralized?”
“I don’t know if it’s possible, or what the outcome might be to the host.”
The Toleral was silent. I sat on the edge of my chair, my muscles tense. I could barely stand the idea that there were foreign objects in my body. I’d been the pawn of ruthless men for too long. My entire adult life as a soldier, if I were honest. How many of the powers that be on the Central Council actually knew what the hell they were doing to the lives of those under them?
How many had been fooled and manipulated by a few soldiers bent on dominating all known space?
Just how many lives had been ruined for the sake of power for a few?
“I can’t stay here. They can’t know what’s going on in the city defenses or the guard.”
Seral frowned when I mentioned leaving. “We’ve altered the bio net and scanned the planet. There are no nelhos on Caeorleia.”
“I don’t want to hear about what you’ve done. It’s not safe! Don’t you understand?” I growled. “We don’t even know if they have to be on planet to access the feedback they’re getting from these micro nanos. The general mentioned others, and you can be damn sure they weren’t all present for the attack. These men might be power-hungry megalomaniacs, but they are smart. Very smart, or they wouldn’t have managed to manipulate so many people for so long.
“They wanted the Collectors. I’m pretty damn sure they know now that we’ve recently had contact with them. They may try again to grab me or Yaseke. They may try to backtrack the Vlrsessium ship. They may already know where to find them from the micro nanos.
“We. Don’t. Know.” I smacked my
hands down on the table with each word. The others flinched. “What we do know is what they want. We have to use that information. If the men who were capable of engineering a war, of sacrificing so many human lives, get their hands on a Collector…. You have to act now before it is too late, and you must eliminate any danger to your success. The lives of everyone on Caeorleia are at stake.”
Yaseke began to protest. “Dade! What are you saying?”
I shook my head. “Not what you think. I don’t want to die.” I didn’t think my words through, and I’d hurt him. He was rigid in his chair. I reached down and took Yaseke’s hand, rubbing my thumb across the back, stroking my tziu. “But we can’t be here. We can go on that vacation you mentioned. I’ve been looking forward to my first vacation. A lot.” I smiled at him, trying to make up for my shitty tact.
“What about Chip?” Larede asked. “He deserves a chance to live too. If I can figure out these micro nanos and find a way to purge them from their bodies, or even just ensure they are no longer capable of transmitting any information, he might have a chance to heal. Sometimes I swear he… well, I don’t think he’s completely mindless. He’s suffered at least as much as Ryker, Nicklaus, and Dade.”
“I agree,” Modoalm said. “We are not in the practice of murder, much less the victims of our enemies.”
“I have that house in the mountains, Father, remember? It is self-sustaining and even has a medical suite since it is so isolated.” Seral tapped a finger on his lips. “I think it could be ready in a day, two at the most.”
“Thank you, Seral,” Larede said.
“Don’t thank me yet. It’s pretty isolated. You’ll be cut off from communication, other than an emergency beacon.”
“That’s exactly what we need.” I turned to Yaseke. “Can you handle a remote spot in the mountains? Do you think the kids would be okay?”
“The young are strong, but they’ve been through a lot. Getting away will probably be good for them.”
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