Jessica was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she walked right into Ajonel, one of the ward’s orderlies. Jessica bounced off the hard, tal body of the Imdiko as he stepped out of a patient’s room.
“My empress!” He grabbed her by the arm, steadying her on her feet. “I am so sorry. I did not see you there.” Jessica gasped breathy laughter. “The fault was al mine, Ajonel. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” She didn’t bother to ask if he was okay. The Kalquorian, like most his brethren, was a wal of muscle. Their colision probably had al the effect of a fly landing on his arm.
“You are leaving early?” He looked over her shoulder. “Matara Narpok is al right?”
“She’s fine. The Imperial Mother is tending her today. Apparently I’m working too hard for my mother’s liking.”
“You do work hard.” Ajonel frowned as if troubled, his broad features going dark. He wasn’t a terribly handsome man with too heavy a brow and a bulging crooked nose. Frowning definitely detracted from his looks. “You are going back to the Royal House?”
Jessica was a little taken aback with the Imdiko’s familiarity. Most Kalquorians not on the council or part of the Royal House’s staff kept a respectful distance. Stil, she was a regular fixture at the hospital now. She should expect a little more friendliness as the staff grew used to her, especialy since she was often seen joking with Govi and head surgeon Flencik. “Not right away. I have a few other things to attend to.”
Like a good fuck date with my mates. I bet you’d get quiet in a hurry if I shared that.
She had to restrain a naughty giggle.
“Have a good day, my empress.” Ajonel bowed and resumed his rounds, his steps quick as if running behind on his work.
“You too, Ajonel.” Jessica continued on her way, keeping a more careful eye out to avoid walking into any more living wals.
She passed newly built and stil empty areas as she hurried on towards the hospital’s in-house transport, anticipation growing as she contemplated spending some time with her clan. The new construction on the psychiatric wing of the hospital was coming along wel. They’d need every inch of it too, what with al the traumatized Earthers pouring in. Most of the patients were women who’d spent time in Earth’s detention camps. Scarred, mutilated, beaten, and starved, their mental states were in shambles. Convicted rightly or wrongly of sex crimes under Earth’s old regime, they’d been made to suffer horrors that brought the finest psychiatric therapies crashing down in failure. There was talk of giving some of the women ful memory wipes, a suggestion that gave Jessica horrors. Yes, the women had been savaged, some to the point where they were as mindless as Narpok. But to erase someone’s entire life, the good along with the bad, seemed incredibly cruel as wel. She personaly couldn’t stomach the idea. Fortunately, the number one and number three psychologists on the hospital’s staff, Govi and Conyod, were against it as wel for the most part. Dr. Kivokan, who’d pioneered the ‘therapeutic mind cleansing’ as he caled it, had been voted down time and again, except in the case of criminals who were deemed beyond rehabilitation.
Jessica was so immersed in her thoughts of Narpok, damaged Mataras, and mind wipes that she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late. Before she could turn around, a hand covered her eyes and she felt pressure on the side of her neck. The next instant, everything went quiet and dark.
* * * *
“She left half an hour ago.” Tara’s voice on the com was worried. “It shouldn’t have taken her more than five minutes to get to your office, Egilka.” Imdiko Emperor Egilka kept his voice even. “She probably got sidetracked. If Jessica ran into Govi or Flencik, there’s no teling how long she’l stop and talk. I’l send someone from the Royal Guard to look for her. We’l let you know as soon as we find her.”
“Thank you. I’l stay with Narpok until I hear from you.”
Egilka’s Nobek clanmate Bevau was already sending out a ful complement of Royal Guards to look for Jessica. He simultaneously sent an alert to Global Security, informing them Kalquor’s empress might have gone missing. The Nobek emperor was frowning, a look that had no ability to mar his perfectly formed features. The expression simply made him look dangerous as wel as devastatingly handsome.
Their Dramok Clajak was just finishing hurried communication with Govi. Attractive in his own right with strong cheekbones and a firm chin, though not approaching Bevau’s singular beauty, the clan’s leader scowled. He shook his head at his clanmates, his steel-tinged hair whispering across his broad shoulders. His sweetly smooth voice held a tremor of worry. “Neither Govi nor Flencik have seen her.
She’s stil not answering her com.”
Bevau’s voice was a thunderous rumble. “I’m going to go look for her.”
“I’l go with you. Egilka?”
“Of course.”
The three men sped out of Egilka’s office, where until only minutes before they’d been eagerly anticipating Jessica’s arrival.
Egilka’s sharp features were drawn with worry, his brow creased as he chased after his clanmates. His usual stoicism was holding out, arguing that his Matara couldn’t have found any real trouble, not in a crowded hospital. Stil, he couldn’t come up with one single good reason why she hadn’t shown up in his office or answered her com.
Egilka hated to be unsure of anything. He was used to being in command of facts, of having needed information readily at hand. Not only was he one of Kalquor’s rulers, he also headed the research arm of Kalquor’s largest hospital. Briliant and confident, he was at the forefront of restoring fertility to the barren Earther women, women who had found a home on Kalquor folowing the war that had left their home planet uninhabitable.
Research was the last thing on Egilka’s mind. His Matara was missing. The mother of his children. The woman he loved.
Clajak spoke as they sped through the hal. “She would have gone through the area under construction. She might have tripped over tools or materials—” Bevau, slightly ahead of them both, caled back. “The major construction is done. It’s empty right now. There shouldn’t be any hazards left.” They ran on, dodging surprised doctors, orderlies, and patients. As they closed in on the psychiatric annex, members of the arriving Royal Guard joined them in the rush. There was a smal knot of four guards waiting in the middle of the newly constructed area that lay between them and the mental ward. The guardsmen, al Nobeks, sang with tension.
“What have you found?” Bevau asked as he drew near.
“It may be nothing, my emperor,” a grizzled Nobek answered with a bow. He extended his palm out to show the Imperial Clan a handful of red berries. Egilka swalowed against a lump in his throat.
“Oh, a fresh shipment of nellus,” Jessica said, greedily plucking several berries and popping them in her mouth as she readied to leave their home. “I think I’ll take some to Narpok.” Only this morning.
“Those are Jessica’s,” Egilka said with conviction. He tugged at his goatee nervously.
Bevau joined a pair of guards who knelt nearby. “There is stil dust from the construction. Any sign?” One Nobek nodded. “Yes, my emperor. Footprints show a smal Earther came through, along with a Kalquorian.” He pointed. “Do you see these scuff marks?” Bevau showed fangs and Egilka went cold at his feral snarl. “And then the set of large prints leaves, but not the Earther’s. She was taken.” Clajak was so furious he was shaking. “They wouldn’t dare take my empress.”
Bevau straightened. “I’m afraid someone has.” To the Royal Guardsmen he said, “Send out an alarm and alert Global Security of this development at once. No one leaves the hospital. The empress has been kidnapped.”
* * * *
Jessica woke in utter darkness. What time was it? And where was the comforting warmth of her clan next to her in their shared bed?
She tried to move and discovered she couldn’t. Not a muscle would twitch. She tried to cry out, but her vocal cords seemed frozen.
What is wrong with me? Is this a dream?
She fought to calm her racing heart, to push back the sudden wash of panic that wanted to overtake her. Instinct told her she was awake and in trouble. She could hear sounds around her, and it felt as if the hard surface beneath her moved. She realized she wasn’t in her home in her bed.
Think, Jessica. What’s the last thing you remember?
It came to her. She’d been visiting Narpok. Her mother had come, insisting she indulge in a little alone time with her clan. She’d been on her way to Egilka’s office when someone had come up behind her.
Then nothing.
Had she been attacked? She detected no hurt and she could feel perfectly wel, from the hard surface beneath her body to the slick cool cover that rested against her face. She just couldn’t move.
Perhaps she had fainted. Maybe she had falen il with some bizarre sickness and was en route to a treatment room. But why was her head covered then?
No, suddenly succumbing to some ailment didn’t make sense at al. Something else had happened to her.
Had she been kidnapped? Now that idea had frightening merit, especialy since she remembered those quick, heavy steps coming up from behind her before she’d lost al her senses. But being the latest victim of those who resisted a growing Earther female population on Kalquor had its drawbacks as a theory as wel. Could the rebels realy have become so brave that they would abduct the empress herself, right from the heavily populated hospital?
Jessica listened hard, trying to get some sense of where she was. The soft tread of a pair of feet told her someone walked next to her. The feeling that she glided smoothly through the air led her to guess that she lay on a hover stretcher and was being transported somewhere. So perhaps she was stil in the hospital.
A voice overhead suddenly spoke, and she tried to utter a startled shriek. Her vocal chords remained silent however. She only managed a rush of breath.
“Any trouble?”
“None. Has the shuttle arrived yet?”
“No, but he’s on his way. They just announced lockdown here at the hospital.”
“What do we do?” The voice sounded panicked, but Jessica was sure she knew the speaker. Remembering him danced just out of reach.
“He’l get here before the guards and Global Security think to check the offload area. Our man is already there, waiting to let him in to colect her.” The unfamiliar voice sounded sure of himself. Jessica felt cold al over. She had little doubt she was the her someone was on their way to colect.
“We shouldn’t have gone ahead with this, not with her changing her routine out of the blue like that. We’re not ready. We can stil abort!”
“Then they’l lock her down to where we can’t get anywhere near her again. This is our only chance, and the basma wants her now. We won’t get another opportunity.”
“I don’t like it. If we get caught—”
“We won’t. Shut up and let me handle the clerk. I’ve got the security recorder ready to go offline.”
Jessica felt her forward motion cease. The heavy tread of someone approaching filtered to her ears.
“What do you have for me?” A new voice, deep and interested. “That’s a smal body.”
“One of the Earther Mataras from the psychiatric wing. Suicide.”
“Oh no. I hate it when we get those. How’d she do it?”
“According to the paperwork, she managed to get into the dispensary. Sucked down everything she could find until she dropped.”
“What a waste.”
Jessica concentrated on moving her right hand. If she could get the attention of whomever it was her kidnappers were speaking to, maybe he could help. She focused, fighting to lift a finger, her wrist, anything. Her hand remained stubbornly unresponsive.
“What’s with al the alarms I’m hearing in the distance?”
“No idea.” The second abductor’s almost-familiar voice was driving her as crazy as her inability to move. “We were hoping you knew.” Jessica heard the shakiness in his tone. Would the other man catch it as wel? She couldn’t count on it. She focused on her hand again. Move, damn you.
“Okay, just scan your identification here and take her to Bay 16. Poor girl. You’d think with al the safeguards we have, these Earthers wouldn’t be able to pul off so many suicides.”
“Yeah. I guess if you’re damaged and want to escape bad enough, you’l find a way.”
Jessica’s stretcher began to move again. She put al her effort into moving. Her chance to get attention was slipping away.
Move. Move! MOVE!
Her pinkie twitched. That was al. She blew out a silent breath of frustration.
A few moments later, the stretcher stopped again. The almost-familiar voice said, “I’l be glad when this is over.”
“Our part is almost done. Let’s finish up with the orderly, pack him in a drawer, and get out of here. After that, it’s up to the man driving the death wagon to finish the job.”
“Bay 16. Let’s slide her in and I’l tel the guard where to find her.”
From the conversation, Jessica put it together that she was in the hospital’s morgue. She heard shifting and something slide. Then someone lifted her, laying her on a hard surface.
The unfamiliar voice sneered, “Goodbye, Empress. I’d say have a nice trip, but I don’t think you’l like where you’re going.” There was the sensation of sliding, then the sound of a door humming shut, cutting off al sound except her breathing and heartbeat. She was alone in a drawer in the hospital’s morgue.
Jessica waited there in silence because she stil couldn’t scream.
* * * *
Bevau consulted with the members of Global Security who’d been caled in. He knew the commander of this squad quite wel, a Nobek named Breft who had aided the Imperial Clan when Jessica had been the victim of an abduction attempt before. His second-in-command Raxstad was also wel known to the emperors, a personal friend. The third Nobek was a battle-scarred warrior named Lidon who’d been instrumental in ending the war with Earth. Good fighters. Good trackers.
But would they find Jessica?
“We’ve got the whole hospital on lockdown, and we’re coordinating with the Royal Guard,” Raxstad reassured Bevau. “No one comes in or leaves without our men’s knowledge.” Breft added, “Security footage shows the empress has not left, whether under her own power or not. She’s stil somewhere in the facility.” Bevau growled a curse. “If only the recorders were set up in the area where she disappeared!”
Lidon answered, “Energy wasted on what might have been is better used on correcting what is.” Bevau’s glare did nothing to wilt the man. Instead he added, “I believe we should have al the facility’s departments report in. Anything out of the ordinary, no matter how insignificant it may seem, may yield clues as to the empress’ whereabouts.” Raxstad crooked a brief smile. “I agree. As my Matara likes to say, ‘the devil is in the details’.”
Lidon nodded. “I like that quote. I’l get to work on the matter right away.”
As he limped away, Breft turned to Raxstad. “Bring in al off-duty officers. Contact divisions within a day’s travel and tel them to send everyone they can spare. I want this hospital searched room by room. Scan every space a woman the empress’ size could fit in. I don’t care how inconceivable it is that she might be in there.” His look was dark. “Someone risked a lot to take her. We must operate as if this is a professional job done by someone with the means and knowledge to carry it off.”
“Yes sir.” Raxstad left at a run.
“I’d like you to set up a command center where al communications and intel can be relayed,” Breft told Bevau. “If you wil take charge of it, that wil free me to lead the search.” Bevau clenched his fists and forced himself to relax. “I was hoping to join in the hunt myself.”
“I know, my emperor.” Breft’s voice was soft with understanding. “But the empress is already in danger, and I can’t alow anyone else from the Imperial Clan to be in harm’s way. Your presence wil only divide my m
en’s attentions between finding her and protecting you.”
“I don’t need protection. I can fight my own battles.”
Breft crooked a grin at him. “I am wel aware of that. Remember, I have seen you in action. But protecting the Imperial Clan is always at the forefront of Global Security’s mandate. You wil be a distraction.” After a moment’s thought he added, “From the command center you’l be the first to know of any new developments.” Bevau’s teeth clenched and a growl slipped from his throat. He needed to find Jessica. He needed to tear out the throats of her attackers. Breft didn’t react; he simply watched and waited.
After a moment, Bevau reluctantly nodded his acquiescence, especialy when he realized he was delaying Breft from searching. No one could track like that man. And as much as he hated to admit it, Bevau would be a detriment to the search. “Go ahead and find her, Breft. I’l set up the command center.”
“Thank you, my emperor.” With a bow, Breft was gone.
“What about me?” Clajak had been pacing back and forth, his turmoil plain to see. As clan leader and the Dramok Emperor, he was used to being in control of everything. Bevau knew Clajak wanted to search for their missing Matara as much as he, and he was impressed that his clanmate had managed to rein in his quick temper for so long. Clajak realized finding Jessica was best led by those with policing expertise and had stepped aside to let those professionals do their jobs. Despite that, it was plain to Bevau that Clajak wouldn’t remain accepting of the helpless position he found himself in if he wasn’t given a meaningful task soon.
Even Egilka’s normaly placid demeanor was gone. The lean Imdiko’s hands were clenched in fists, his body thrumming with tension as he stood in the middle of the room. The whole clan was poised to explode.
As the highest leader of Kalquor’s military, Bevau fel into his accustomed role of commander-in-chief with ease. “Clajak, you wil help me set up the command center. Your administration skils are better than mine, so you’l be in charge of putting it together. Once it’s up and running I’l take over and you can help me keep track of what’s going on. Start on that right away.” Clajak’s shoulders lost some of their stiffness, his focus sharpening as his quick mind took hold of the mission. He turned to his assistant Korkla and the two dozen members of the Royal Guard awaiting directions. “Al of you with me. I want the conference center on the first floor set up with al the coms, vids, and computers you can lay your hands on. Meet me there in fifteen minutes.”
Alien Interludes Page 3