by Catty Diva
“Let’s go find them so they can join us. This is a reason to celebrate.”
Had they not headed toward the library, they might not have heard the scream. The noise in the cafeteria would have drowned it out. But they did hear it so they ran to the library where once inside, Clancy was fighting Ralph.
“What the hell is going on here?” Duke asked.
“I tried to help Sharon. They got her. Someone go get her back,” Clancy observed.
“I couldn’t let her get taken too,” Ralph explained.
“Damn!” Duggin yelled as he turned on his heels heading to the space ship.
“Come, Clancy!” Duke said as they followed.
Duggin didn’t blame him for not leaving her behind. Someone had just been taken from inside these walls and Duggin realized that female meant the world to him. Jumping up the steps, he opened the door getting into the ship. Duke and Clancy were just steps behind him. He started the engine running through the preparations for takeoff before Duke had the door closed.
The second Clancy’s harness was on, they took off with all the equipment scanning for anything unusual. Heat signatures or signs of emissions from ships would give him something to follow. Duke monitored the equipment as he flew the ship. An alarm went off indicating something had been found. A ship had passed here recently. If they hurried, maybe they could catch them. Duggin sped up as much as he could without affecting their ability to track the trail they followed.
“See anything?” Duggin asked slowing down as the stream of emissions they followed began to dissipate.
“No, not yet. They have to be nearby,” Duke declared.
“Why here?” Clancy asked.
“I don’t know,” Duke replied.
“Call a local and see what’s nearby that would hide a ship,” Clancy suggested.
Duggin felt stupid. He’d let his fear for Sharon mess with his ability to find her. Duke made the call as he swept the area. ”Razar?” Duke asked.
“Yeah, I’ve heard. Where you at?” Duke read off the coordinates. “Some caves in that area have sink holes too, so be careful. I’m sending troops to your location.”
“We’ll be watching for them,” Duke replied. Yeah, they might as well because the ones they were chasing had disappeared into thin air.
Duggin circled the area, but it didn’t look like they would find anything, at least not from the air. Duke started to pull out hand scanners that searched for emission or could be switched to look for body heat. He looked for a place to land, finding a good one.
“We need to look on foot. You’ve got to stay here. Don’t open the door for anyone but me,” Duke told Clancy. She started to protest. “Think of the baby.” That shut her up. Now they could land then got on the hunt.
Setting the ship down perfectly, they didn’t even bump the ground. Duke quickly explained how to lock or unlock the door before they opened it to head out. They were in a desert area, heat hit them from above then came off the ground in waves making it nearly unbearable. Clancy would have found it hard to manage. It was good she was staying behind.
Noise in the distance alerted him that their backup was getting near. It sounded like several ships. Razar had said troops, so that should be no surprise. “Should we wait since they’re here now?” Duggin asked.
“Might be best. They know the area, especially sinkholes. I don’t like the thought of being swallowed whole by the sand,” Duke admitted.
They stood still as the ships started to land near theirs. Moments later, Razar jumped out of a ship from the top of the steps to the sand below. It was obvious he was angry and looking for a fight. Mazlans enjoyed a good fight as much as the average hunter did. There was no shame in that. Many times, a fight was necessary to restore order. This would be one of those times. They’d gone through a lot to get Sharon, they wouldn’t want to let her go.
That was too bad because he wouldn’t let her go either. Once she was back in his arms, he intended to pursue his claim. He wasn’t even sure what he had waited for. Had he gone for it, maybe she wouldn’t be in this situation. Razar approached them.
“We’ll get her back from those assholes. Don’t worry, Duggin,” he promised. “Just over that dune,” He pointed, “is the entrance to a cave system. We’ve not had the chance to map them, but several of us have gone in them before.”
Hopefully, Razar could lead them to the mercenaries who had taken his female. He moved in front of them to take the lead. His males fell into line behind them. Two sentries remained behind to guard the ships. There was no way to surprise these guys, they were expecting them to chase them. Even though they hoped to avoid detection, they had to be prepared just in case.
The entrance was small, they had to squeeze in but it opened up as soon as they got in. The ceiling was low as they moved down a tunnel. It opened up into a cavern. The damn thing was huge. Razar kept moving until they came to another tunnel. This one went two ways. He sent a group of males down the other route while they went down the main one. No one spoke, because sound traveled fast as it echoed off the walls of the cavern.
Under other circumstances, this place would be interesting. Someone should be studying it. No sooner had he thought it, then he saw signs someone had been here. Since they were being quiet, they picked up on the sounds of their prey. Two of them were arguing.
“Damn it, Paul. We can’t get off this damn rock,” A man argued.
“When the time is right, there’ll be a diversion. Then we’ll go,” Paul answered.
“Just in time to be shot down,” the man declared.
“Not with her on board,” Paul promised.
“They always get their enemies,” the man insisted.
“Why the hell did you even come with us, Ned?” Paul asked.
“I thought we could bribe someone. How can they demand that much loyalty?” Ned wondered.
“By paying well,” Paul observed.
“I guess that don’t hurt,” Ned agreed.
“No, loyalty can be bought too,” Paul suggested.
“I still think we’re going to die trying to get out of here,” Ned admitted.
“They won’t kill her, and if they do, at least we won’t die alone.” Paul laughed like a crazy man.
“You’re nuts,” Ned observed.
“That’s why they hire me for these impossible jobs. Now, go check on the bitch,” Paul ordered.
Duggin was beyond pissed. They were insulting his female after abducting her. Her life was hanging from a thread as these mercenaries attempted the impossible. Razar would never let them off his planet alive. Once they freed Sharon, these guys needed to die. Especially Paul. The guy thought he was special hiding behind a female. Coward! He was lower than space slime.
Razar was making hand motions to his males. That’s when Duggin noticed the small group that had gone the other way were on the far side of the mercenaries. When they hit them, it would be from two directions. He still wondered where the damn ship they’d been on was at. It had disappeared. There was no way he could see to get it in here so it was still out there. Did they have camouflage abilities? He’d heard such a thing existed, but he’d not seen it.
Everyone was in place just waiting for the right moment. Duggin would make a beeline for the place Ned headed to since he was sure that’s where Sharon was being kept. Paul settled down on a sleeping mat without setting a guard. Maybe the guards were elsewhere? They really couldn’t wait any longer. Razar gave the signal so Duggin ran past Paul knowing Razar already had him. He jumped over a rack landing easily on the other side.
This is where the other guys were all at. He had a dozen ragtag mercenaries much like Ned. None of them tried to engage him as he headed to Sharon who laid on the cold ground trussed up like a game hen ready for cooking. Ned was nearest to her but he held his hands up like he was giving up. Duggin moved to where Sharon lay, then dropped to his knees to release her. Razar’s males were moving in and one dropped Ned where he stood. The fool ha
d pulled a gun to shoot Duggin.
Did he think he’d come there alone? These men had no heart and no loyalty. They also had no courage. The only way they could have gotten away, was to fight a winning battle. This fight had ended quickly. If his males had been hoping for a good fight, it had let them down. Half had died quickly while the other half were pleading for mercy. While they deserved none, who was to say what Razar might grant. After all, Sharon was in his arms, she had been frightened, but unharmed.
It made no sense for those who ran the labs to continue to send failures after those who’d finally escaped them. If they didn’t pay anything up front, maybe they weren’t out of anything. Repeated attacks might be thought to weaken them, but it only strengthened their resolve.
Chapter 5
Fearless
Sharon had been afraid. At least, she thought she had been. Those guys looked rough, but they smelled worse. The leader appeared to be unhinged the way he ranted about going out in a blaze of glory. Who talked like that? Underneath it all, she’d remained calm, listening to them talk for any information she might pick up. Last time she’d been drugged, but not this time.
This time, she’d been calm. One of the mercenaries had said she seemed fearless. What a laugh. Sharon was no heroine. She knew Duggin was coming for her. That’s what helped keep her calm. He had too, just as she’d imagined with a glitter of danger in his eye, making the smart mercenaries scattered. The not so smart ones had expired at his hands or the hands of the others he’d brought for backup. There’d been no doubt in her mind she would be rescued as long as these ruffians hadn’t killed her before he arrived.
Now that the rescue had been carried out, she was looking forward. Would this happen again? How many failures would teach those shadowy figures who ran the labs that there was no point in continuing? It made her wonder, could these misbegotten sons of a dog be traced back to their master? If they could use these attempts to find the source that would make it all worthwhile. How did one even go about such a thing?
It was likely that the hunters or the Mazlans if not both, had already been trying to do that. Could anything she’d overheard be helpful? Sharon had listened so hard she’d gotten a headache. That would be worth it if only they could catch these awful people. Right now, she was in Duggin’s warm embrace and it didn’t get any better than that.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Duggin offered. That was an offer she’d certainly take. He began to walk to the entrance they’d come in.
“Don’t forget to find out if Sharon knows anything,” Razar suggested.
“As soon as she’s had a chance to recover,” Duggin said.
Razar gave him a pointed look. Sharon knew the statistics. She was given them last time. Victims remembered the most right after they were recovered. Given time, memory fades or becomes confused. While under certain circumstances memories might be repressed to surface later, that wasn’t the case usually. It was important she get the facts out as soon as possible.
Ralph and Paul had bickered back and forth a great deal, divulging a lot of information. Most was about who they were, but some was about the shady males who hired them. That information might be traceable. She was sure it would be like links in a chain. Just like outbreaks of illness were tracked. Since she wanted to be a nurse, she could relate to that the best.
They loaded in the ships, Razar’s males took six prisoners with them. A few stayed behind to deal with the bodies. Duggin explained they would take pictures, fingerprints, and DNA to identify the mercenaries. It might help them to figure out who had hired them. Sharon was glad it was their job, not hers. Handling dead bodies was not something she wanted to do. Those guys were a mess when they were alive, dead in this heat, they would stink to high heaven soon.
“Sharon!” Clancy screamed as she moved to her hugging the stuffing out of her. “Thank goodness, you’re alive.”
Clancy didn’t invoke the gods or goddesses as many of the races did. None of those raised and kept in the lab had any knowledge of such things. Religion was a strange but wonderful mystery to them. They’d heard the guards and medical staff say curses or prayers to the strange deities they believed in, but no one had ever taken the time to explain their beliefs to them.
She’d been reading some of the amazing stories about the Mazlan’s religious background. Sharon had been both mystified and stunned by them. That they were beyond belief went without saying, but they seemed impossible to her. Maybe if she’d been indoctrinated as a child she would have found them comforting or at least familiar. Her attention tended to wander since she’d been exposed to so many new things. She tried to listen to what Clancy said.
“Tell me everything.”
“There’s not much to tell. The most important thing is Ralph was working with them. They paid him to help capture us,” Sharon informed.
“Are you sure?” Clancy asked.
“Positive. They spoke of him,” Sharon admitted.
“See?” Clancy asked Duke. “I’m not crazy.”
“He must be. The Mazlans don’t like betrayal,” Duke observed.
“Once we get to the refugee housing, we’ll handle him,” Duggin promised.
“So, you never told us what happened, Clancy,” Duke said.
“I went to see Sharon, but she wasn’t alone. Another male was trying to grab her, but he wasn’t having much luck. I was going to help her, but Ralph grabbed me, holding me back. He said later it was to keep me safe so only one of us would be taken. Sharon saw me being held by Ralph, so she went with the abductor to keep me safe. I could have taken Ralph. He’s a weak ass weasel.”
“It’s an Earth creature considered to be sneaky,” Sharon answered.
“That fits. He’ll not do us any harm again,” Duggin promised. Both males looked angry and ready to do violence.
“Razar just contacted me. One of the mercenaries is a woman,” Duke said shaking his head.
“Why can’t a woman be a mercenary?” Sharon asked annoyed.
“We have women hunters. It’s not so much that she can’t be a mercenary as that she was hiding the fact that she was a woman. We didn’t know, but neither did her fellow mercenaries. How do you hide something like that? They eat, sleep, and use the bathroom together,” Duke observed.
“I read about a device that let’s female soldiers pee standing up,” Clancy offered.
“No, really?” Duggin asked. Clancy nodded.
“That would be weird. She’d have to wear it all the time,” Duke pointed out.
“So?” Clancy asked.
“Wouldn’t it get, you know, nasty?” Duggin asked.
“It would if she couldn’t take it off to wash it,” Sharon commented, amused by the male’s concerns.
Duke shivered in an obvious way. “Yuck!”
“Enough said,” Duggin insisted.
They made it back to the refugee housing where they immediately got off the ship. Duke and Duggin would be taking Ralph into custody to be delivered to Razar to deal with at his leisure. Meanwhile, Razar was questioning the six mercenaries he already had in custody. As soon as they approached the building, women came spilling out highly agitated and crying. Not good.
“What’s going on?” Duggin asked.
Sandy sniffed as she lifted her tear stained face in his direction. “Ralph is dead. We found him outside, face down on the ground. There’s no obvious cause. He’s just cold and stiff.”
The other women started crying piteously. “Don’t feel too bad. He was working with the mercenaries who abducted Sharon. They probably killed him to tie up loose ends,” Duke admitted.
Some of the ladies looked even more upset. Others looked disbelieving. Ralph was, after all, one of them. Wasn’t he? “What did any of you know about Ralph?” Clancy asked.
“He’s came to the facility a couple months before we were freed,” Sandy said.
“He was weird,” Gayle admitted.
A few of the other women admitted he gave them the cre
eps. He was solitary, but always watching. The man never got close to anyone, never made a single friend. His standoffish attitude had gone unnoticed because they were all traumatized. Everyone reacted differently, so how were any of them to say he was different. A pattern seemed to be emerging that made it clear he’d been a spy all along. That may have been his true reason for not wanting to learn. Ralph needed all his time to watch and assess.
It was likely he was the reason they’d been successful in their other attempt, as well. Honestly, they were lucky he was gone as sad as that was. Now they would be safer, or they would be if no other spies remained. Sharon cast a suspicious eye around the group. All the women were familiar from years of catching glimpses of them as they were moved around. A few of the males were too, but many of the males were not. Ralph had fit firmly in that group of barely known males, except he’d been in poor shape without any significant value as a breeding specimen. That should have set off a red flag with all of them. Ralph had been unbelievably average or less than in every way.
Sharon shook her head to clear it. There was no point in second guessing herself. None of them had experience with much of anything life might throw at them now. It was time to pull up her big girl panties and take on life head first. She now knew some of the things to look for in a traitor or a spy. All of them would be more watchful now that they realized what could happen among their own people, or at least what they thought was one of their own.
Duggin moved closer, putting his arm around her to lend her his support. Could everyone tell she was about to go to pieces or only him? With him close like this she felt better. His spicy scent washed over her making her heart beat faster for a different reason. She didn’t know what Duggin wanted from her, but she wanted everything from him. If she had any say in the matter, he would be the one to teach her about what happened between a male and female when they cared deeply for each other. Sharon simply didn’t want anyone else.
She looked at him from beneath her eyelashes hoping no one else would notice. The male was gorgeous. His short hair, just long enough to stand up in the top of his head, was black. It went well with his blue eyes, a blue so dark at times it seemed black. He was tall with broad shoulders but the build of a swimmer, muscular and lean. Any female would be happy to call him hers. Sharon certainly would be, but could she?