by Allynn Riggs
Scrambling away from where she wanted to stay, Ani began searching for her clothes. She couldn’t look directly at Renloret. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as he slid to a seated position. He’d cupped his face in his hands. Was he embarrassed or was he as frustrated as she was? She found her pants and one boot, then untied the sleeves of the shirt she wore as a skirt and flung it at him. He caught it and stood up, his back to her. A twinge of guilt washed over her at the red scrapes from the wall that marked up the smooth muscled surface of his back, but she didn’t dare touch him.
She cleared her throat, making sure her words were not laced with unintended desire. “We’re two hours away. We’re going to miss him.”
A stream of vulgarities whipped off her telepathic tongue to Kela. He only laughed now that she was back on task. She fastened her pants and, leaning over the edge of the mostly empty trash bin, spied her shirt. She pulled herself up and reached unsuccessfully, then hooked her bare foot on the edge, hoping to slide into the bin. The foot slipped and she fell in with enough noise to cause even Kela to wince in her mind. She stood up, kicked the metal side of the container in anger, and voiced her emotions in a growling scream. Thrashing through the bags, she located her shirt and after shaking off some debris, managed to pull it on.
She glanced at Renloret over the edge of the trash bin. He now stood nonchalantly leaning against the stone wall fully dressed, though his buttonless shirt was teasingly open to his waist. He was apparently in perfect control. He held her wrist blade sheaths out to her, a wicked smile on those delicious lips.
“Such a bad idea,” she muttered. There wasn’t time to wipe the smile off his face, so she hopped out of the container, recovered and shoved on her boots, and stomped over to snatch the sheaths from him.
“Your shirt is inside out,” he said, his tone husky and suggestive.
She pulled one of the blades out and pointed it at his middle. He backed up several steps, hands high above his head. “We’re not talking about this,” she snarled as she stalked passed him. In silence, they carefully worked their way back to the wheeler and left Saedi City.
The first half of the ride back to Star Valley was painfully silent. Ani had refused to talk. Every time he tried to speak she had held the palm of her hand up. It was not until they reached the most wheel-screeching curves on the mountain road that her tongue loosened. Then he was bombarded with a list of things she thought they would need to effect the rescue of her brother. Fortunately, he was used to receiving long orders without benefit of notes.
It was only when she finally ran out of words that he noticed the tears on her cheeks and the white-knuckle grip with which she maneuvered the wheeler. He chanced her anger by touching her shoulder and to his relief, she tipped her head, pressing his hand between cheek and shoulder. A few breaths later she asked if he thought there was a way they could use the star runner to help with the escape.
He was thinking the same thing and suggested they stop at the lake house where he could use the tunnels to get to the launch tower and prepare the ship while she gathered rope and weapons. He also suggested that a third person would be helpful in carrying Taryn and providing protection. They discussed some of the possibilities, but when Renloret mentioned Mroz, a ghost of a smile flickered across her lips.
Before she could argue against it, Renloret defended his choice. “Mroz seems well-balanced and can certainly handle himself in stressful situations. He managed me at the cemetery when I discovered your identity. He knows blade work and, if I remember correctly, he still competes in age-group competitions on occasion. Beyond those things, his size and strength would be an asset in moving Taryn to the roof.”
“He is the most skilled in the valley outside of Taryn and myself,” she admitted. “He is also trustworthy and levelheaded and not easily shocked. I think he’s our only real option. My only question to you is, are you sure you want to bring in a native?”
“In spite of what my superiors might say, we need Mroz.”
When they were back in Star Valley, they made a single stop at the research center to check on the whereabouts of Treyder and then picked up Kela before heading to the lake house. Once there, Ani penned a note to Mroz requesting a private meeting, slid the note into the slim tube of a message collar, and latched the tube around Kela’s neck. Kela would deliver the message to Mroz while Renloret and Ani finished their preparations. They planned to meet Kela at Mroz’s bar.
Renloret took the tunnel from the lake house to the launch tower, leaving Ani to collect items from her list. Less than half a bell later, Renloret emerged from the tunnel and found Ani nearly ready to go. It didn’t take long for them to finish loading the wheeler and head for the village. A few chimes later, the antique wheeled vehicle rolled into the parking lot of Mroz’s bar. Kela was on the porch, waiting for them.
As the engine ceased its rumble, Ani turned to Renloret and stopped the nervous habit of rolling her bottom lip between her teeth with a reluctant grin. “Ready?” She unbuckled the safety strap across her chest but did not open the door. “There’s still time to contact the ship and get reinforcements.”
He shook his head. “No, we don’t really have the time. Besides, your father would be the first to come, and once on Teramar, he might decide to get involved again. We can’t clear that path for him. I’m more confident of Mroz than I am of your father.”
“Me too.” She got out of the wheeler and ruffled the fur on either side of the canine’s head as she headed into the bar.
Renloret paused outside the entrance. Neither of them really knew how Mroz would react to the message Kela had delivered. Bringing in a Teramaran native to assist in rescuing Taryn with alien technology was a dangerous gamble. He hoped he had judged Mroz correctly. With a sigh and shake of his head at the impulsiveness of their plan, Renloret followed Ani into the bar.
Mroz nodded to him and pointed at a table with three chairs. “Welcome back. Ani’s note said we’d all be needin’ some bolstering without the hangover before and during this conversation, so I pulled one of the energy brews I sometimes use before a competition. Oh, it’s not illegal, just some extra vitamins and a few herbs. Also, just so you know, we have about an hour before customers start arriving, so we don’t have too much time.”
Mroz came from behind the bar and set a tray in the center of the table. He indicated the two pale red containers, a trio of glasses, and a single sauce bowl. Then he poured two fingers of the red liquid into each of the three glasses, splashed some into the bowl, and set the bowl on the floor.
Ani selected a glass and drew it slowly past her nose, checking the blend. “Good choice, Mroz. Just enough caffeine to brace ourselves but not enough to impede reactions or thoughts. Now for the toast.” She raised her glass overhead.
“To the Stones of Lrakira and their misunderstood prophecies.” Her voice was clear and soft.
“To Taryn,” Renloret added.
“To friends in need,” Mroz said, a questioning tone lifting the last word.
Kela’s single bark punctuated the toast.
“Now, what’s this about?” Mroz asked, setting his empty glass on the table.
Ani glanced at Renloret then cleared her throat. “I asked Taryn to investigate something for me, and now he’s in trouble and we need your help to get him out.”
Mroz slapped his hand on the table making the glassware tremble. “Ha! Between the two of you, Taryn the Terror’s been in trouble ever since he locked you in the cabinet when you were nine.” Mroz hesitated at the look on Ani’s face. “Okay, I’ll take the blame for the cabinet since I knew about the scheme and didn’t stop him, but he’s been in trouble before and since, Ani.”
“This is not a child’s prank, Mroz, this is serious. Lives depend on Taryn and his life is being threatened.”
“All right. What kind of trouble is he in now?”
“He’s been kidnapped by Dr. Isul Treyder and is in Saedi City being used to test one of the doctor’s
experimental devices.”
“You’re sure he was kidnapped and didn’t go willingly?”
They both nodded. Renloret took the piece of fabric from Taryn’s uniform out of his pocket. “We found this in Treyder’s office at the research center.” Frowning, Mroz fingered it, handed the swatch back to Renloret, and nodded for them to continue.
Ani lowered her voice, even though there was no one else in the bar. “Briefly, this is what we know. Taryn didn’t sleep at his house, he didn’t call in to work, and no one has seen him since last eve. This morn Daneeha showed us some notes concerning a meeting with Dr. Treyder at the research center last night. When we checked, the doctor had not signed in for his usual morning shift. His office looked a shambles, and we found some notes there that made us suspicious. We punched a number from the notes we found into my tel-com and it connected with Senator Nelham’s office in the capital.”
She paused to make sure that Mroz was following her. The bar owner was hunched a bit toward her, clearly intent on what she was saying. “So we returned to the sheriff’s office and had Daneeha trace Taryn’s tel-com. It was located at the government center in Saedi City. We went there and discovered that the doctor had met with Senator Nelham late last night. The doctor was not with Nelham when we saw the senator, but one of his associates was, and as the two of them left a committee meeting, we overheard enough to follow the associate.”
She took another sip of her drink. “We followed him to a building in the industrial section that seems to be housing a medical research business. Once inside we saw Taryn on a gurney in a guarded laboratory. He was hooked up to all sorts of tubes and wires.” Her voice was shaking and her chin trembled.
Renloret continued the story. “Before we were able to discern if he was alive or not, we were discovered and had to run. We escaped the guards only because of Ani’s ingenuity.”
A blush warmed his face and he noticed Ani averting her gaze. He smiled just a bit and then continued. “We returned to Star Valley as soon as we could to find the doctor so we could question him. Upon arrival, we were informed that the doctor had checked in much later than usual and that he’d left soon after with several boxes of papers and a couple of pieces of unknown equipment. Doctor Treyder didn’t tell anyone where he’d been, where he was going, or when he was coming back. Taryn’s life is in danger, Mroz. We need your help.”
“Hells of Teramar,” the bartender whispered. He poured another two fingers of fluid into his glass and swirled it around, obviously contemplating the information. Mroz eyed each of them, even Kela. “So, why do you need me? You two are very capable individuals, and you know what you’re up against. Kela here can be a good lookout. Can’t you figure out how to do this by yourself? Why not involve his deputies? Why do you need an old man like me?”
Renloret cleared his throat, again hoping he’d read Mroz correctly. “Forget about the deputies. The plan they will come up with will take too much time and involve too many people. And they’ll want to barge in and carry him out through the front door. I want to take him off the roof this eve.”
Mroz’s eyebrows raised but he didn’t say anything. He just tipped his glass toward Renloret indicating he wanted more information.
“He’s on the fourth floor of a five story flat-roofed building. I’d rather go up one floor than down four. Ani and I could possibly handle an unconscious body, but if you were with us, it would be faster and there would be less chance of injury.”
“How are you going to get on and off the roof?”
“This is where I need to know how you really feel about aliens,” Renloret replied as he sat back in his chair.
Mroz took the news about aliens far better than Renloret had imagined. In fact, the bartender practically fell to his knees in excitement when he fully understood what he was asked to help with. It turned out that he was more than eager to do something out of the ordinary and delighted that Renloret had shared such sensitive information with him. The fact that Renloret, Ani’s entire family, and even Taryn were aliens seemed to be the least of Mroz’s concerns. The childish grin on his face had only gotten larger as he peppered Renloret with questions about why the two species were so similar in looks and in the blade culture. And even though Renloret emphasized that such similarity was extremely rare, Mroz seemed comfortable with the overall idea of aliens, so long as they didn’t sprout wings or other extra appendages. Renloret suppressed a smile at that and purposely neglected to mention the Stones, only saying that Taryn was needed specifically to save the life of one of Lrakira’s rulers.
The tavern owner became pensive and serious when Ani mentioned that Taryn was her twin. After a long, searching study of Ani — which made her visibly squirm — he silently topped off her glass, raised his to her, and tossed the contents down his throat.
Mroz reached across the table and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Do Gelwood and Melli know?”
Ani shook her head and explained that even Taryn did not know because they had only discovered his identity the previous eve. Mroz sounded a soft whistle, then poured the last of the fortifying drink out and silently tossed it back as if it were alcohol.
“I always knew there was something special about your family — aside from being good people. I now understand a bit more about your parents’ reluctance to talk about their home in Southern.” Mroz chuckled. “Southern. Blades, we never questioned that. All the nuances and accents in our language, the blade techniques, and even the music and dancing seemed to fit with what we know about Southern. Their dedication to the research they were doing, respect for our Northern ways, and willingness to befriend me, teach me … is …” He shook his head. “I wish I’d known before they died. It would have been fun having an alien for a friend back then. Hells, it was fun. Six years of knowing your father was not long enough. He was a good man, Ani.” He patted her hand. “If it hadn’t been for the attack on the research center, would your family have stayed?”
Ani shrugged. “All I know is that the original plan was for me to be returned to Lrakira when I reached puberty. Things turned out differently for reasons I can’t explain right now.”
“Well, other than losing both your parents, I’m pleased with how it worked out … until this. Do you have any idea why Isul Treyder has done this? I mean, he was always a bit odd, but he was focused on his machines and how they would help. Why would he resort to kidnapping anyone, especially our little village’s sheriff?”
Scooting her chair closer, Ani focused on Mroz. “It’s been noted that he had issues with my uncle. Would you know anything about that?”
Mroz nodded. “I remember Reslo fussing about Treyder working on his own projects rather than those he was assigned. And when Treyder wouldn’t drop work on them, he was asked to leave the research center. Unfortunately, the dismissal came around the time Treyder’s wife died. She had been in a coma for a number of years. It probably didn’t set well with the doctor.”
“It didn’t. We think Taryn is under the influence of one of those little devices.”
“So all we have to do is unhook Taryn from the machine and he’ll be all right? Why do you need me for that?”
“Because it is not an external machine. Treyder has made it very small and it has put Taryn in an artificial coma.” Renloret pinched his forefinger to his thumb to demonstrate the size of the tiny device that had been removed from Ani’s brain two months earlier, shortly after arriving on Lrakira. “It will take a special surgeon on Lrakira to remove it.”
“We have to take Taryn to Lrakira,” Ani said.
Mroz shook his head and looked at Ani. “Why would the doctor want to put someone through that ordeal after he spent over a decade caring for his wife?”
“My guess would be that he wanted to demonstrate it first on my mother to get back at my uncle for firing him. He wants Uncle Reslo in particular to suffer having a family member in a coma, just like he had. But my mother died before he could inject it in her, so when he had a c
hance, he injected it in me.” She shrugged a shoulder at Mroz’s shocked expression. “Yeah, it’s a long story that can be told after we get Taryn out of the mess he’s in. The important thing is that we are sure Taryn is under the influence of a similar device and is being held against his will in Saedi City.”
“So will you help?” Renloret asked Mroz. “You’ll get to be the first native Teramaran to fly in a spaceship.” He silently amended his statement to first Teramaran biped when he saw Ani push her foot into Kela’s ribs. Of course Kela was truly the first Teramaran on a spaceship. He would have to apologize to the canine later.
Unaware of the exchange, a smile lit up Mroz’s face. “Absolutely. Count my blade in. This will make an interesting new chapter in my memoir.” He winked at Ani. “Now, let’s see this plan of yours and how it matches mine.” Mroz cleared the table and brought out a pad of paper. He gave Renloret and Ani several sheets so they could sketch out a basic building plan while he called the bartender scheduled for the evening shift to tell him he would be on his own that night. Renloret smiled at Ani when Mroz added a couple of coughs to polish off the lie that he was sick.
Renloret was surprised and relieved at Mroz’s calm reaction to the existence of aliens. Mroz seemed to take it all in, shrug off the unbelievable part, and just get on with life and the rescue plan. He was more comfortable with the mere idea of aliens than Ani had ever been, or still was, though she’d been to Lrakira and had spent weeks traveling amongst the stars. Renloret decided Ani’s mother and uncle had been too successful in protecting Ani’s identity.
Once they arrived at the launch tower and control room, Renloret watched Mroz carefully, just to be sure he was really as accepting of the information shared with him and the plan as he appeared to be. When he finished the sequence of codes to release the hidden star runner from its storage space and it slid out of its holding stall, Mroz gawked at it, muttering, “So you really could exterminate us if you wanted to.”