Several prisoners raised their tool weapons overhead and cheered. She bit her lower lip. Although she was appalled by the treatment these creatures had suffered, in many cases it was a lot more humane than what many of them had put their victims through. She had to keep reminding herself that the majority of those condemned to be here deserved it.
She looked around to see if she could spot Safan, but he was not among the group. If he was, he was swallowed up by the masses.
There was no way she could allow these aliens to escape the mines, but she couldn’t take them down with her psi powers. Not yet. Not until she found out what had happened to Safan.
What if he was still down in the mines?
What if…
Her throat suddenly closed up, and her skin grew cold and tight.
What if Safan was already dead?
A sense of helplessness spread through her. She clenched her teeth. If these creatures had killed Safan, she would have no compunction about blasting them the same way she’d attacked the Kronners. But until someone with the ability to open the pulse gates arrived, she was trapped in here with everyone else. If she took them down now, they could regain consciousness before reinforcements showed up.
No. First she had to find Safan. After that, she could neutralize the prisoners.
If she could find Safan.
“What do we do with them?”
She was jostled and made to move forward slightly, along with the injured guard. A few feet away, the inmates pressed two more injured guards closer to the makeshift dais.
The leader’s reply was curt and not surprising. “They’re our hostages, just in case.”
Just in case. In case the prisoners’ plans were foiled when someone came to investigate, she and the others would be used to barter for the escapees’ freedom. But there was no doubt in her mind she and the other three guards were totally expendable.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The order went out for the grounds to be cleared. Immediately some of the prisoners began righting the vehicles while others started dragging the dead into the offices lining the inner crater ring. They placed the injured in a separate set of offices. Maurra watched as two Ellinod picked up body parts and stacked them in their arms. All fine and dandy, guys, but how are you going to cover up all the blood before the cavalry arrives?
One of the prisoners shoved a phaser gun into the guard behind her, who in turn bumped into her. “Move!”
He pushed at them again to herd them in the direction toward the gates and the towers bracing them on either side. Which meant that if the authorities coming to investigate failed to open the huge doors, she and the guards could be put on public display and probably murdered one at a time until the prisoners’ demands were granted.
As soon as the mine had blown, the entire crater had gone on lockdown. The only way the prisoners could escape off this rock was to make it over to the landing pad and confiscate the ships. But in order to do that, they first had to get through those immense gates. She glanced up at the smooth vertical walls surrounding them. There was no way anyone could climb out of this place.
She bit her lower lip and glanced at the other three guards, then judged her inner strength. If they huddled close enough to her, she was certain she could shield them when she blasted the prisoners. If she couldn’t save Safan, then the least she could do would be to rescue the remaining guards.
They shuffled past the center core of the mine shaft where prisoners were trying to disguise the lack of doors on the entrance with one of the vehicles. A small handful of prisoners shoved the land speeders around to hide the scorch marks from the explosion. She watched them until her psionic powers alerted her, sending a tingling sensation over her skull. She frowned as she stumbled over the large rock fragments. It wasn’t so much as a danger signal as it was…
She looked up and over at the group of Ellinod. They were busy trying to turn a speeder right side up, except for one beast who stood to one side. One with a peculiarly crooked horn. One who turned around and stood frozen to stare at her in shock and disbelief. He wasn’t as sickly looking as the others, but the dark bruises and half-healed welts across his chest and face showed how bad things were in the mines.
Her heart slammed against her rib cage.
Safan!
He started toward her but she quickly signaled him to stay, making a hand gesture they had used when aboard the Kronner ship. Wait. Another prisoner growled something at him and he reluctantly turned to lend a hand, but she could sense him keeping her in his sight. He understood she was planning something. He trusted her.
Her group continued toward the gates where the leader was standing with several others. The Ellinod eyed her and the injured guards before bringing his attention back to her.
“Who are you?”
“Teana Amiattro. If you’ve got the cargo, I’ve got the price. Who are you?” It wasn’t hard to feign fear over what was occurring.
The leader ignored her retort. “What are you doing here?”
“I developed engine trouble. This place gave me clearance to land—”
“Hold it!” The leader reached out and almost poked her in the chest with a swollen finger bearing a broken claw. She leaned back to prevent contact. If he touched her, there would be no way she could prevent her psi core from throwing a defensive net around her for protection. And if that happened, her secret would be out. To the majority of these creatures, the only good JoJo would be a dead one.
The leader didn’t seem to notice her avoidance. He gaped at her in happy disbelief.
“You have a ship here?”
Maurra nodded toward the gates. “Actually it’s out there, a few hundred meters from the main landing pad. On the dark side of the moon.” She didn’t ask him why the sudden interest. She already knew. It would be one more conveyance away from this place.
“Will it fly?”
She gave him a half shrug. “Depends. You got someone here who knows his way around a Tygrecian low boy?”
The leader thought about it. Glancing over her head, he stared at the flock of prisoners working in the background. He motioned for a few to join them. To Maurra’s surprise, one of them was Safan. Either that, or he had attached himself to the ones ordered over.
“We’re in luck. There’s a merchant vessel downed on the other side of the landing pad. That gives us another ship. But it’s developed engine problems. Any of you know someone who’s familiar with Tygrecian ships?”
“I’ve driven one,” Safan said in a gritty voice.
“Good enough.” Turning back to Maurra, the leader smiled. The sight of it turned her stomach. “That gives us one more hostage to kill if they refuse to open the gates.”
Maurra shot a look at Safan. He glared at her, undeniably angry.
He’s looking at me like he hates me.
With the force of a bomb going off inside her, the bitter, ugly truth sucked every bit of breath and strength from her, and her legs went out from under her. The leader laughed maliciously as she sank onto the dirt in shock.
Yeah, go ahead and laugh, you girg fucker. You think I’m reacting to your little speech because you no longer need me now that you have a fellow prisoner who can man the controls of my ship.
But the heartsickening reality was that she finally realized she had been hanging her emotions on a dead star. She had developed feelings for the Ellinod that wouldn’t be reciprocated. He didn’t care for her. He never had. The tenderness and gentleness she’d sensed in him had been real but not deep. They had been only for the moment when he’d needed to take her, to prevent them both from being annihilated. His feelings weren’t permanent. They weren’t from his heart or his soul. They weren’t…
Oh, by the freaking heavens. He’s an Ellinod! What was I expecting? For him to suddenly open his arms? To come charging over to keep me safe? How could I have believed he would develop feelings for me? I’m the biggest fool in the galaxy. And all of this was for naught. All o
f my plans have been nothing but foolhardy and worthless!
Well, maybe not worthless. She could still pull a good deed or two out of this confusing mess. Once the reinforcements arrived, she could take down the prisoners and rescue the surviving guards.
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she got back up and faced the leader who had moved away to talk to another one of his minions. They were too far away for her translator to work, but it wasn’t necessary now. She knew their plans.
Backing up carefully, keeping her movements discreet, Maurra rejoined the injured guards. Bowing her head, she leaned in and whispered, “On my word, grab hold of me, any part of me, and hold on. Don’t let go. Do you understand?”
Three soft grunts answered her. One ventured a question. “Why?”
“I’m a psion.”
Their reactions didn’t surprise her. However, they remained huddled close to where they could grab her at a moment’s notice.
Maurra sniffed, wiped away the last of the useless tears and raised her face. Immediately her eyes locked on to green ones less than two meters away. The look on his face told her everything. He had overheard her instructions to the guards. He knew what she planned to do.
She reached out with her sensors but detected nothing from him. No trepidation, no anger. Nothing.
Now that you know, Safan, what are you going to do about it?
A cry went out from behind them. Many of the prisoners started scurrying for the doorways. Others concealed themselves behind the vehicles, out of sight from anyone standing at the gates. An Ellinod prisoner carrying a mining rock cutter shoved the sharpened end into one guard’s back. “Move.”
“I thought you were going to use us as hostages to get them to open the gate.” She spat at him as they hobbled toward one of the gate’s towers where the leader and two of his men had already disappeared through an open door.
“We are.” The prisoner laughed. “We have other plans for you first.”
Maurra gave the creature a perplexed look, but it was more of an excuse to search behind them to see where Safan had gone. It was with no surprise she found him trailing along directly behind their captors.
After all, he needed to let his leader know what he’d discovered.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
They were nearly at the door when they heard the sound of patrol land speeders approaching. “Move it!” The prisoner jabbed at them to make them hurry. Instead, the injured guard beside Maurra fell to his knees. She whirled on the convict.
“He’s injured, you prick! He can’t move that fast!”
Safan came up from behind and pointed to a tall column of limestone to their left. “Over there. They can’t see us from the gates if we hide over there.”
“Over there” was a narrow but deep indentation in the column. The prisoner continued to jab at the guards, forcing them to cram inside. Maurra angled her body so that she faced outward with the three creatures behind her. It had turned out better than she expected. This way the guards would be within her protective shield without the need for them to hold on to her.
The prisoner turned to Safan. “Now what?”
“Now I relieve you of your duty,” Safan calmly answered, and dealt the prisoner a heavy fisted blow to the side of his face. The prisoner sank to the ground without a sound as Safan grabbed his weapon.
She stared at the Ellinod in confusion as he shoved the creature inside a small fissure in the rock wall. When he was done, he hefted the mining instrument and pressed inside the crack with them while also keeping an eye on what was happening at the gates.
This close to him, she could smell the stench of the mines upon him, and for a moment her heart went out to him before she managed to close it back up in its own little cell. “What are you doing?” she whispered.
He glanced back at her, and his eyes darted up to her forehead. At this point, the power coalescing there was no longer an issue.
“Do you really have a ship nearby?”
“What do you think?”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get the engines fixed? Are they completely shot?”
“What do you care?” She already saw where this was going.
They could hear the patrol speeders pulling up to the gates just as another ship flew over the crater. This would all be over in a few minutes, she realized, once the pilot caught sight of the destroyed mine doors, the puddles of blood and the prisoners trying to hide behind the damaged vehicles.
Someone tried to bring down the craft with a pulse gun, not knowing the phaser blasts were useless against the ship’s metal hull. A moment later, a loud voice was projected from the gates.
“We know you’ve managed to seize the inner compound. Give up now, and you’ll be given food and medical care. Resist, and we will wipe out the interior with a proton bomb. You have fifty microns to reply.”
Safan made a move to go forward when Maurra grabbed his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to tell them about the injured guards.”
“And get yourself killed!”
“Not if I go out there empty-handed,” he argued, dropping the tool onto the dirt.
“I don’t mean by the guards,” Maurra told him. “By the other prisoners! Or have you forgotten they’re armed too?”
His eyes bore into hers, and she got the impression he was searching for something. Waiting for her. “What do you care?” he asked.
She answered before she thought. “Why the fuck do you think I came here in the first place?”
His eyes filled with hope. She sensed it, along with relief and…
Her heart emerged from its cage. His open, raw emotions were too much for her to handle at this moment, but they were what she had been praying to see.
Caring. Concern. And…affection.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Maurra whispered, “I came to save you, you idiot. My engines are fine. My ship is fine. I just pretended—”
“Twenty microns!”
“Look, you stay here. Let me go out. My shield will protect me. You know that.” She could feel her powers flowing through her, tensing her muscles and tingling her nerve endings. At this point her gift would be visible as a nearly solid ball of blue flame.
“You.”
The soft voice drew their attention to the guard holding his shattered arm.
“Now I recognize you. You were the ones the Kronners held captive.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She turned back around. “All right. It’s showtime.”
“Maurra.” Safan snagged her arm. “If you take down the prisoners like I think you’re planning on doing, you’ll have to take me down with them.”
“You’re coming with me.”
“I can’t follow you. And if you leave me untouched, they will kill me the second they get the chance.” His warm hand brushed against her belly. “You have to take me out.”
“No way. Just stay here and keep your eyes and ears open. Then take the first opening you see, all right? But while I’m firing, you stay back and out of sight, you got me? Stay out of my sight!”
They remained staring at each other another moment or two, studying each other’s faces, waiting to see who would make the first move, the first gesture. In the end, it was Safan who let go of her arm and stepped back. She nodded and moved away from the hideaway, out into the open where she could see the entire interior of the crater, and where both the prisoners and guards could see her.
Chapter Thirty
She couldn’t give the prisoners time to react. Lifting her arms overhead, Maurra aimed her powers in one large blanket of blue light. She needed to make direct visual contact with her target. Thus, the prisoners inside the towers or hiding behind the damaged vehicles were untouched until they popped their heads up to aim and fire their weapons. The moment they did, their bodies went rigid.
She sent a sensor web over the interior as she kept her back to the gates. Wherever she detected a figu
re, she bathed that section until the prisoner showed himself. She knew that eventually they all would. It was one of the quirks of every living species. At some point curiosity would make them try to take a peek at her, or at least look to see how things were faring. And when they did, a bright blue neuron-freezing beam would take them down.
She wished she could see the guards’ expressions, but her concentration couldn’t be jeopardized. It was difficult enough to keep her powers contained within the narrowed field of the crater. If she’d had her JoJo gun, she could focus the blue wash with greater ease, intensity and direction.
This was the first time she had used her ability since recovering, and it felt damn good. No, screw that. It felt fantastic! This was what she had been created to do. This was her job, her calling, her destiny, JoJo or not. There was no greater sense of accomplishment than to help and protect those who needed it, and to take down those determined to cause misery.
Someone in one of the towers tried to fire on her with a phaser gun. Maurra narrowed her eyes, and a single thought dropped the sniper cold. With the Ellinod down, she no longer sensed anything before her. Gradually she reduced her power until it was no more than two gyroscoping plasma orbs enveloping her hands. Until her acceptance into the corps, when she learned how to use the psion pistol, she had used her hands to help focus her powers. Turning around, she looked out at the guards hovering behind the gates.
“It’s done. You can come in safely now.”
She watched the lights around the gates dim and fade away, and the land speeders slowly pulled into the main area. One vehicle bearing the crest of the prison warden stopped near her, and a large Ellinod wearing a bright gold vest got out. He gave the area a quick once-over, then walked over to where she stood with her hands still extended. She didn’t want to shut down. Not yet. Not until she was satisfied the situation was stable.
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