by Gail Koger
“It serves no purpose.”
“I like my hair and I don’t want tentacles.”
“What you want is irrelevant. Once the conversion starts it is irreversible.”
Wonderful.
The door slid open and Bey crawled in.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have been instructed to guard the children while you attend the war council.”
I frowned. “But females aren’t allowed to attend the war council.”
“We have made an exception in your case. Please arrive at 1900 hours. Bring the Shani, we have questions for her too,” Sariel ordered and whizzed away.
Butterflies danced in my stomach. Did I finally have warrior status? I glanced down at my gauntlet. Merda! I only had fifteen minutes. I rushed into the bathroom tidied my hair and made sure I didn’t have any food stuck in my teeth or on my battle suit. Scooping up Chiara, I headed for the war room.
Chapter Fourteen
Chiara curled around my neck. “What do they want with us?”
“All I know is they’re planning their battle strategy to take out the Rodan base. My biggest concern is freeing the prisoners before they get blown to bits or the monsters eat them.”
“Do they want me to port a warrior?”
“Probably.”
“I can only port someone of your size. The warriors are too heavy,” Chiara confessed.
“What a shame. I guess they’ll have to send us in to save the day.”
Chiara brightened. “We can kill many Rodan.”
“And rescue Adam.”
A huge Askole with way too many tentacles stood guard in front of the war room door.
“They’re expecting me,” I informed the warrior politely.
The warrior refused to acknowledge me.
I let out a long breath and summoned an energy ball. “Do I have your attention now?”
“Females are not allowed in the war room,” the warrior sneered.
“Does he not know who you are?” Chiara asked in surprise.
“I don’t think he cares. I’m female and not worthy of his respect.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Sariel summoned me. Now let me pass.”
“You know Sariel?”
“I do. He’s my father-in-law and your boss.”
“You are a soft skin,” the warrior scoffed.
My temper flared to life. “Gee, you’re so observant. Let me pass, or I’ll go around you.”
His tentacles stood out from his head in surprise. “You think you can defeat me?”
“I didn’t say anything about fighting you.” I smiled brightly at the moron. “I’ll simply have Chiara port us into the room.”
He eyed Chiara. “That would set off the internal security alerts.”
I nodded. “Just think of all the noise, confusion and warriors running every which way thinking we’re under attack and we’re not. Not to mention how unhappy it would make Trayon. What’s it going to be? The easy way or the hard way?”
The door whished open and Trayon stepped out. “The easy way.”
“Spoilsport.”
“This is my mate, Rakk.” Trayon placed his hand on the warrior’s shoulder and squeezed. “You will treat her with the proper respect.”
I watched as the color drained from Rakk’s scales. He dropped to one knee in obvious pain. “Yes, Commander. It will not happen again, Commander.”
“If it does, you will be babysitting the Tabor twins,” Trayon warned.
The look of horror on Rakk’s face had me giggling. It seemed the twins’ exploits had spread across the fleet.
Trayon gave me a stern look.
I fluttered my eyelashes at him.
“Unless you want females to be permanently banned, you will behave yourself,” Trayon advised on our private link.”
I crossed my heart. “I’ll be a good little girl.”
“That I doubt.” Trayon held out his hand.
I took it and as I passed Rakk, I said, “You’re lucky you still have your tentacles. Chiara finds them quite tasty.”
Chiara hissed at him.
“Do not torment my warriors,” Trayon growled.
“Where’s the fun in that?” My eyes widened as I took in the war room. It was basically a conference room like you would find on Earth, except one wall held a slew of blood-stained antique swords. The other walls held scanners and viewscreens. An assortment of Coletti, Askole, Farin and Alliance warriors were sitting at a long platinum table. Built into the right arm of each chair was a high-tech control panel.
Trayon escorted us up to the head of the table where Sariel, Zarek, my father and a Chinese man with cold, cop eyes were seated. “This is Jia, my mate. She is responsible for the destruction of Threll and seven Rodan battle cruisers.”
“Not entirely true. Without our help Jia would have never obliterated Threll,” Loki stated from the end of the table.
I examined Loki’s and Ivan’s battered faces. “He’s right. It was a team effort. Just like I needed Chiara’s assistance to destroy the Rodan ships. If we work as a team, we can annihilate the Rodan.”
The Chinese man surveyed me from head-to-toe. “There is no doubt she is human, not a replicant?”
I frowned. He thought I was a clone. Had Giovanni actually created one?
“Jia is my daughter in every way Zan,” Dad stated firmly.
My eyebrows rose. The Chinese guy was the famous Commander Zan. According to the news vids, he had single-handedly rescued three hundred women from the slave traders. Zan had started out as a lowly enforcer and rose through the ranks until he was the head honcho. He reminded me a lot of the hard-nosed cop I had played cat and mouse with when I worked for Matteo. I held out my arm. “Would you like to take a DNA sample?”
Zarek interjected, “That will not be necessary. The replicant’s DNA always matches the donors. You have my word Commander Zan that Jia is not a clone.”
Cazzo. How could he tell? I quickly accessed Trayon’s knowledge. Replicants were all psychic duds with no telepathic abilities. Whew! That let me off the hook. My gaze fixed on a humanoid with long silver hair and pointy elf ears. Trayon’s memories were a little vague but I knew he was a high ranking Farin. His amused grin was annoying. “You are?”
“Captain Jubal. I have been tasked with recovering our stolen technology.”
I winced. “The cloaking device was wrecked when I blew up Lilkee’s transporter room.”
“But the personal camouflage shroud is undamaged.” Trayon pulled out a chair and on our private link ordered, “Sit. Do not speak unless asked a direct question.”
I gave him the stink eye and sat.
“Want me to port us out of here?” Chiara asked.
“No. We are the first females in over three hundred years to be allowed to attend a war council. Let’s see what all the fuss is about.”
Trayon took the chair next to me. “We were able to salvage most of the cloaking device, Jubal. I will have the remnants transported to your ship.”
Yeah, as soon as Sariel scanned every little piece.
Jubal turned his attention to me. “How did you blow a hole in Lilkee’s ship?”
“Thermite grenade.”
“You were taught how to use weapons?”
Was there a sarcastic note in Jubal’s voice? I pulled one off my belt and held it up. “Let’s just say I’m self-taught.”
“There were no males to protect you?”
“They were eaten by the Tai-Kok. Besides thermite grenades are easy to use. You simply pull the pin and toss it.”
Every warrior at the table tensed when I threw it at Jubal.
Jubal caught the grenade easily. “How did you get away before the grenade blew?”
“Chiara ported us.”
“Where did you find the Shani? They seldom leave their planet.” Jubal hurled the grenade back at me.
Trayon snatched it out of mid-air.
I held my hand out for the grenade and frowned w
hen he attached it to his weapon’s belt. “I rescued Chiara and several other children from the flesh peddlers on Threll.”
Dad squeezed my knee and said on our private link, “Tossing grenades about the war room is bad manners, young lady.”
“Yes, sir.”
A warrior wearing a bright blue helmet snarled, “Those children included a Rodan spawn.”
“Cason is no longer Rodan,” Trayon shot back testily. His tentacles rose like angry snakes. “He is my son, and you would do well not to forget that Lipas.”
The black plume on Lipas’s shiny helmet swung wildly. “Bah! You let your feeling for the soft skin interfere with your duties as a warrior.”
“He has no aura,” Chiara warned.
“What?” Ignoring the barely polite exchange between Trayon and Lipas, I quickly scanned the nasty man. Every living being had an aura. Why didn’t he? How had the guys missed that? A cold prickling ran up my spine when I sensed a familiar mind directing Lipas’s actions. Mallox! Since the Rodan had limited telepathic powers, he must have been experimenting on himself. I clouded their minds. “What is your plan?”
“My task is to destroy the warriors in this room,” Lipas answered dully.
“Why?” I felt Trayon link with me.
This time Mallox responded, “Once my enemies have been crushed, the Rodan will rule the galaxy and I will take my rightful place as Emperor.”
Dad joined the link and asked, “How are you going to kill everyone?”
“I surgically implanted Peekay, which is an undetectable explosive, into Lipas’s body,” Mallox replied.
Cazzo!
Trayon demanded, “How many replicants do you have on your enemy’s ships?”
“Only Lipas. The others died while seizing the cloaking devices.”
“When is the bomb set to blow?” To me that was the most important question.
There was a growing sense of alarm in Mallox’s fuzzy mind. “Three minutes from now.”
Trayon shot the information to Sariel and the Overlord.
Zarek’s merciless gaze fixed on Lipas.
Lipas blank stare morphed into one of rage. Twenty seconds later a transport beam locked on him and he vanished.
Jubal erupted to his feet. “What is going on?”
“Suicide bomber,” I said.
“Shields are up. Brace for impact,” Trayon announced abruptly. A massive explosion shook the ship.
Chiara flashed the image of a large rat with wormy growths covering its body into my mind. “It has no aura and is heading toward engineering.”
“Good work.” I sent the information to Trayon.
Trayon touched his gauntlet. Klaxons sounded. “Battle stations. All warriors report to your battle stations.”
“Do you know who is attacking the ship?” Commander Zan questioned.
“It was an assassination attempt by Mallox and one of his creations is loose on the ship,” Sariel advised.
“Not for long.” Zarek teleported.
Dad vanished a second later.
Loki exclaimed, “How is this even possible? Your scanners should have detected the explosives and the creature.”
An extremely ugly Farin demanded, “What proof do you have that Lipas had a bomb?”
I looked at him in disbelief. “Oh, I don’t know. The fact he just blew up?”
Trayon bared his fangs. “Jia and Chiara are the reason we still live, Cuylen. You will treat them with the proper respect.”
“I will not show respect to deviant females. They are the ones behind the attacks, not Lipas. Everyone knows Earth females are unnatural,” Cuylen spat.
Were all Farins bigoted asses? “What’s unnatural is your disappointment the ship wasn’t blown to bits. You should be relieved at your good fortune, but you’re not. You got a death wish, or are you a Rodan stooge?”
“You were on duty when the cloaking devices were stolen,” Jubal stated coldly.
Cuylen yanked his weapon out.
In one smooth movement, Trayon drew his pistol, shoved me to the floor and opened fire.
Multiple stun beams hit Cuylen, dropping him face down on the metal deck.
I watched as he seized violently. “I bet Lilkee hired him.”
“She does tend to recruit inept warriors,” Trayon agreed and helped me up.
I clung to him as another explosion rocked the ship. “Looks like the rat creature has been disposed of.”
“We owe much to Chiara,” Sariel said.
“We do.” I stroked her head. “You were awesome.”
Jubal bowed. “Thank you, Lady Chiara. My people are in your debt.”
Chiara raised her head proudly. “I do what I must to protect my family. Until the Rodan are driven from the galaxy, no one is safe.”
“Now we need to find out how were they able to bypass the ship’s security measures,” I said.
Commander Zan added, “And how they are turning our own warriors against us.”
“Greed,” Ivan said.
Sariel tentacles squirmed wildly. “Explain.”
“The Legionnaires have been hiring mercenaries to fill their ranks for some time now. They are offering a million-credit signing bonus and another million if your mission is successful,” Loki advised.
I threw up my hands in disgust. “Why haven’t you told anyone about this?”
“The Bjarke High Command is aware of what the Legionnaires are doing and has taken steps to correct it, but it is not our responsibility to inform the Coletti, Askole or the Alliance,” Loki shot back.
I blew out a long breath. “The Rodan eat Bjarkes too. How many are you willing to let die needlessly?”
“That is a matter for the diplomats to settle,” Ivan said.
Loki interjected, “Lilkee has been hiring Hador mercenaries.”
I jumped about a foot when Sariel and Trayon bellowed their war cries. “That bad?”
“They are without honor,” Sariel snarled.
“Hadors?” I cocked an inquiring eyebrow. “I’ve never heard of them.”
Trayon tapped his gauntlet. A three-dimensional picture of a squat humanoid with a rodent-like face and porcupine spines for hair appeared mid-air.
“Can they fight?” I had to ask.
“Not very well. They strike from behind, hoping to take their enemy by surprise. Their spines are tipped with poison. Any warrior not wearing armor is killed instantly,” Zan advised.
Trayon added, “Once their spines are gone, the cowards run.”
“They aren’t too smart either or they’d know Lilkee’s warriors have a short life span,” I said. “I mean, you can’t collect the bonus if you’re dead.”
“The Hadors desire for credits outweighs common sense,” Ivan said.
I rubbed my suddenly aching forehead. “Someone is financing her, but who?”
“That is the question. Zarek investigated Lilkee’s finances and found she has less than fifty credits in her account,” Trayon replied.
Loki chimed in, “That would explain why the few mercenaries that do survive their missions are murdered when they return.”
“The only logical conclusion is we have a traitor in our ranks.” My shoulders sagged. Saving Adam seemed an impossible task.
“Who has kept the Rodan informed of our movements,” Commander Zan said.
I sighed. “Which is why they risked seven battle cruisers to ambush Trayon’s and Zarek’s ships. It should have been an easy win for them.”
“But they did not count on my talented mate or Chiara’s ability to port onto a shielded ship,” Trayon gloated.
I grinned. “I imagine the Emperor wasn’t pleased by the news.”
“No, he was not. Three of his commanders were beheaded and served for dinner,” Jubal said.
“Ugh!” I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “If they know we’re coming, they’ll be prepared for a siege.”
“A long bloody siege,” Jubal concurred.
An evil smile curved Sariel’
s mouth. “The Gorum have agreed to help.”
“Can they teleport through the Rodan shields?” Call me curious.
“They can,” Trayon replied.
Jubal smiled gleefully. “A single Gorum once ate the entire crew of a Tai-Kok ship.”
I had a hard time wrapping my head around that fact. Most Tai-Kok ships held a crew of four hundred. The Gorum must have been the size of a blimp when he finished gobbling them down. “Do the Gorum eat people too?”
“There is nothing the Gorum will not eat,” Commander Zan stated.
My eyes widened in horror. “Are you sure they’re on our side?”
“The Gorum King has a treaty with Zarek,” Trayon assured me.
Dad teleported into the war room. “Zarek wants Cuylen brought to his ship for interrogation.”
“Take him,” Sariel said.
Dad clamped a hand to his chest, picked Cuylen up and vanished.
“Chiara, I want you to scan each ship in the fleet for anything unusual,” Trayon ordered.
“Yes, Father Trayon.”
Trayon rubbed my back. “We will find Adam.”
“Alive?”
“I cannot promise you that.” Trayon’s gauntlet chimed. “I am needed on the bridge.”
“Go. I’ll help Chiara.” I watched Trayon zoomed away. Would I ever be that fast?
Three hours later, we were no closer to finding our traitor, but the ships had been scanned and given an all clear.
“The Gorum will be arriving shortly,” Trayon announced on our private link. “I want Chiara and you to meet them. Come to the bridge in ten minutes.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” I asked nervously.
“As my mate you will meet many dangerous lifeforms. You must learn how to deal with them.”
He had a point. They were allies. They couldn’t be worse than the Tai-Kok, could they?
Chapter Fifteen
A bright yellow glow popped into existence on the bridge. If it had appeared three feet to the left, it would have taken out navigations. The spinning light transformed into a rather large vortex. Had Trayon and the others lost their minds? It could destroy the ship!