by Regine Abel
“But you knew they were going missing after that,” I interjected.
Paul’s head jerked in my direction, and he glared at me.
“Why the fuck are Tuureans involved, anyway? What’s it in for you?”
“Xelixians have helped us. We’re returning the favor,” I shrugged. “Now stop wasting our time and speak. You will regardless, so do not make us force it out of you.”
Paul gnashed his teeth. For a moment, he appeared to battle the urge to hurl insults at us but thought better of it.
Smart boy.
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. I’m just trying to run my business,” Paul said to me before turning to Ghan. “Yes, I knew your people were going missing. Not at first, though,” he quickly added. “The people I deal with usually go off on jobs or missions halfway across the sector and aren’t heard from for months, sometimes years. The first rumors about Xelixians going missing only started popping up a few months ago.”
Paul tried to lift his hand, but the shackle stopped him. He cast an irritated look at it, then rubbed the back of his shoulder against his backrest, probably to scratch an itch. I smirked, once more grateful for my helmet masking my face.
“I didn’t believe it at first, but in the weeks that followed, it became clear that I’d referred every person that had gone missing. That was bad business!” Paul’s gaze flicked between the four of us. “If people start hearing that contracts arranged by Paul Ramsay get you in trouble, or worse, killed, they won’t do business with me. That deal was good, easy credits, but not worth destroying my reputation over. So I stopped.”
Ghan and I both turned to Sohr, seeking validation.
“It appears to be true,” Sohr said. “Of the Xelixian males we intercepted after they’d spoken to him, those who had wanted in on the contract all confirmed that he had turned them away saying he no longer dealt with that.”
“Like I said, it’s bad business,” Paul reiterated. “Can I go now?”
“Not so fast,” Ghan said, crossing his massive arms over his chest. “Where was the rendezvous point, and where did they take the males?”
Paul heaved a frustrated sigh, and I refrained from shaking my head.
Did he really think he’d get off so easily?
“The rendezvous point changed every time. At first, I thought it was out of convenience, wherever was closest to their pilot’s location. But once the disappearances became known, I figured it was to cover their tracks.”
“Fair enough, but where did they take them?” Ghan insisted.
Paul pursed his lips, reluctant to give away that information.
“You can talk, or we can make you talk,” I said, losing patience. “Either way, we’ll know everything you do. The faster you spill it, the sooner you’ll get out of here.”
Males like Paul were commonplace in this quadrant. I believed his arguments, especially for a broker with his well-established reputation. However lucrative a deal Varrek had offered him, Ramsay would have eventually walked away. We just needed a new lead and he was our only hope. If necessary, I’d crack his head open without hesitation to find out where Veredians and Xelixians were held captive.
“I cannot be tied…”
“You won’t be,” Sohr interrupted. “We made sure no one saw or followed us when we brought you onboard. Only the people in this room will know where this information came from.”
Paul harrumphed before conceding. As soon as he gave us the location, Kamala and Sohr exited the room to go gather intel for a swift raid. My excitement rose, realizing the compound was located on this very planet, built inside one of the abandoned mines of a deserted village on the far side of this rock. It made sense. No one would question frequent trips to and from Jeruna’s surface. Smugglers, mercenaries, and wanted criminals were also known to hunker down in random ghost towns around the planet.
Ghan and I grilled him further for information that might be of relevance before turning him over to two guards. He showered us with colorful expletives when we told him he couldn’t leave until the raid was underway in case he got any fancy ideas of warning them. Although unlikely, I would never take any risk with the lives of my Sisters.
To my relief, Sohr and Kamala confirmed we could mount the attack quickly. Within two hours, we were airborne, enroute to the Jeruna compound.
Just like on Axios, they never saw us coming thanks to our stealth technology. However, with the lab deep underground, we had no choice but to reveal our presence once we got on the elevators. Amalia could have made things so much easier for us. But Khel would sooner start a war than let us take his beloved mate anywhere near danger. I couldn’t blame him. The day I found out her mother’s days were numbered, I too had sworn to keep Amalia safe at all cost.
With five ships cloaked outside the compound and our fleet in orbit, no one would escape us. Kamala had identified a single secondary exit which our forces already guarded. Our scans had revealed the presence of four hundred and eighty-eight people, three hundred and six of them Xelixians, one hundred and forty-four Veredians, one Korlethean, and the rest Guldans.
We split our forces between three of the four elevators, timing their arrival to force the guards to split their attention. One of the elevators would be empty except for realistic holographic projections to throw them off. As soon as the elevator doors opened, the Tuureans in each of our three units threw up energy shields to deflect the blaster shots that indeed got fired our way.
Only ten of the thirty-seven Guldans greeted our arrival. Overwhelmed by our numbers, they never stood a chance, and we made quick work of dispatching them. To my great annoyance, they had activated some sort of scrambler that made our scanners useless. Few species managed to devise technologies able to fool or tamper with ours. Guldans though—or rather, Varrek—always seemed able to catch up to us, although it never lasted. Before we left this compound, we’d have to be sure to gather at least one sample device so we could adapt our technology to circumvent it.
We split into three groups. The first unit, led by Ghan and me, headed for the holding area where the Veredians were kept. The second and largest unit led by Jezaya and Zakh, went after the harvest lab where the Xelixians were located. Finally, Kamala and Sohr’s team dashed toward the command center to, hopefully prevent the Guldans from deleting any valuable information still in their systems. On the way, they would attempt to rescue the single Korlethean—a female at that—who had appeared to be located nearby before our scanners stopped functioning.
The empty hallways, labs, and rooms along the way made me nervous. Before Axios, raiding had been an exhilarating experience for me. Right now, it wasn’t excitement that made my pulse race but anxiety. A dull pain throbbed beneath my left breast where the assassin’s blade had penetrated my armor. Sensing my distress, the visual display in my suit emitted a warning, and the nanites in my suit went into ready mode to intervene in a flash if my symptoms worsened.
As we approached an intersection of the white paneled corridor, two sections of the wall suddenly slid open and a dozen Guldans descended upon us. On instinct, I parried the silver flash of the sword attempting to impale me. I loved sword fighting but sadly met few opponents who ever gave me any real type of challenge. This Guldan was no better. His scream of agony drowned in the clash of swords resounding all around me.
I turned to face another opponent. Before I could reach him, Ghan stepped in front of me and backhanded the Guldan. The gesture had appeared casual, effortless, yet his victim flew backward, blood exploding out of his mouth. He crashed into a wall, dazed. Grinding my teeth, I left him to Ghan’s care. Looking for another target, I found myself once more thwarted by my mate. No sooner did I move toward the Guldan than Ghan showed up out of nowhere to attack him instead.
I stepped in front of Ghan.
“Back off!” I hissed at him.
Startled, he froze long enough for me to throw myself at the Guldan. Once again, he proved no match for me. As much as I wanted to kil
l him to vent my building anger, I reined in my temper; we needed living guards to interrogate for more information. Although he couldn’t see me through my Tuurean mask, I glared at Ghan, who cast a troubled look toward me. We resumed our progress toward the holding area, finding no more opposition.
Ghan brought one of the two surviving guards to the biometric lock by the door and forced him to use his print and retinal scan to give us access without wasting time hacking the system. While the door opened, a com from Zakh confirmed they, too, had secured the harvest labs and were now liberating the Xelixians. As we entered the holding area, Kamala commed in to inform us they had taken control of the command center.
The tension in her voice told me she was seething almost as badly as I was. I could easily guess why. Unable to help it, I glared once more at my mate. We would have a serious talk later.
The sight of nearly a hundred and a half Veredians holding each other with a look of both fear and hope made my heart swell. Nothing compared to the joy I felt every time the Goddess allowed me to grant the precious gift of freedom to one of my Sisters. Keeping an eye out for any assassin drones, we gathered the Veredians and had six of the eight members of my unit escort them back to the ships.
“Admiral Lee,” an Elder Sister said, “there is another child held somewhere in the compound.”
“A Veredian?” I asked, surprised.
The Elder hesitated, adding to my confusion. The Guldans had no use or patience with children and usually avoided them. Why keep one separated from the adult females that would look after her?
“Yes. She’s Veredian, but… special.”
I frowned, baffled by the cryptic response. Before I could question her further, Kamala hailed me on the com.
“Lee,” Kamala said, “come to the command center as soon as you can. We found the Korlethean, and she demands to speak with you.”
“Acknowledged.”
The Elder had seized the opportunity to make a hasty retreat. Her odd behavior further confused me.
“Well, let’s find the child,” I said to Ghan and my two remaining unit members.
It would have proven a frustrating exercise had Sohr and Kamala not managed to disable the frequency disrupter that kept scrambling our scanners. The old mines that had been transformed into a compound were a maze of corridors and dead-end chambers. The scarce furniture made all the rooms with white and bronze walls look alike. Without the scanner, it might have taken hours to locate the child cowering in one of the guard’s private quarters. Had the Elder not mentioned her existence, we might have missed her altogether.
The thought of a child abandoned here made me shudder.
When we opened the door, the young girl, maybe five years of age, stood trembling before the door, head bowed as a slave would. Realizing we weren’t who she expected, her stunning, large green eyes widened even more with fear and confusion. With a squeal she ran to the back of the small quarters, pressing herself against a corner. Besides the bed and a small desk, the otherwise empty room offered no cover. There didn’t even seem to be a fresher inside.
I needed to go reassure the child that all was well, but my feet refused to budge. Shock had me rooted in place.
Her sun-kissed, sandy brown skin and Warrior markings identified her as Veredian. Long, strawberry-blond hair, framed by two hazelnut colored horns, cascaded down her back.
Impossible!
Veredians and Guldans couldn’t conceive together. And even had that happened, the mother never would have survived the horns shredding her from within throughout the pregnancy, and even worse, during delivery.
Ghan brushed past me, snapping me out of my dazed stupor.
He carefully approached the little girl, who whimpered in fear. Stopping at a safe distance, he slowly crouched down before her. The rest of us remained clustered at the entrance to avoid intimidating her further.
“Hello, little one,” Ghan said with that amazing soft voice he always used with Zhara. “My name is Ghan Delphin. I am an officer in the Xelixian army.” He looked over his shoulder to gesture at us. “My friends and I are here to rescue all Veredians and Xelixians held captive here.”
Eyes round like saucers, her gaze flicked toward us before latching back onto Ghan.
“We would like you to come with us. We’ll take you to a nice place where you’ll be safe and have plenty of other children to play with.”
Her trembling receded, and a glimmer of hope and longing sparked in her emerald eyes before fading.
“I can’t go,” she said in a tiny voice.
“Why not?” Ghan asked, gently. “Do you wish to remain here?”
The violence with which she shook her head and the haunted look on her face spoke volumes about the abuse that the little girl had withstood. Anger flared deep within me. How could anyone mistreat a helpless child?
Raising a hesitant hand to one of her horns, she almost appeared to attempt to hide it with her hair. My chest constricted with sympathy.
Is that why she was kept apart from the others?
“You’re freeing Veredians, but I’m….,” she whispered, her voice trailing off.
A tinge of fear had crept back into her voice. She shrugged and hugged herself.
“Yes. Which means I’m freeing you, too, since you are Veredian,” Ghan said, matter-of-fact, then pointed to her arms. “Those lovely Warrior markings say as much.”
Hope rekindling in her eyes, she lifted a hand again as if to touch her horn once more but stopped by her cheek and fiddled with a strand of hair instead.
“You are the first Veredian I’ve ever seen with horns. They are quite beautiful. Would it be okay for me to touch them?” Ghan asked with the same gentle tone.
He would make a wonderful father.
My throat tightened, knowing I could never bear him a child. Part of me wanted to rail at the unfairness of it all, but I forced the bitterness down. The Goddess had already granted us so many blessings, I wouldn’t offend her by making more demands rather than expressing gratitude for what she had already given me. At least, he had Zhara and the boys.
It didn’t make it any less painful.
The little girl started, her pointy chin dropping as she gaped at my mate.
“It’s all right if you don’t want me to. I won’t be upset.”
“No!” the child said quickly. “It’s… It’s okay, if you want to.”
Crouch-walking, Ghan closed the distance between them and carefully reached for her right horn. The child stared at him with a mix of awe and fear. When his hand touched her horn, she flinched at first, as if expecting pain. When none came, tension bled out of her skinny body covered with the same sleeveless slave dress the other Sisters wore.
“They are stunning,” Ghan said, dropping his hand. “Beautiful horns for a beautiful Veredian girl.”
The little hybrid beamed, her cheeks warming.
“Can you tell me your name?”
Her smile faltered. She glanced at us again then whispered so softly I wouldn’t have heard her without my suit’s sound enhancements.
“Sir calls me Maruki, but Mama named me Lenora before she died.”
“Which one do you prefer?”
“Lenora,” she said without the slightest hesitation.
“Very well, Lenora. It suits you well.”
Eyelashes fluttering timidly, she lowered her eyes, embarrassed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Who is Sir?” Ghan asked. “Is he your master?”
She hesitated. “Kind of. He… he’s my sire.”
The muscles in Ghan’s back bulged with tension. She didn’t need to go into details for us to read between the lines.
“Your sire wants to keep you with him?” Ghan asked.
Her eyes glistened, and she blinked away the tears that threatened to surface.
“No. He wants to sell me. But I don’t have my power yet. I will be worth more then. But I’m almost six now, and I still don’t have one. Sir thinks maybe
I won’t. That makes him even more angry.”
“Nobody will sell you or hurt you,” Ghan said, a bit of a growl seeping into his voice. “You have me now. I will protect you against anyone who makes you sad or is mean to you. If you come with me, I will keep you safe.”
She swallowed hard and cast a fearful glance over his shoulder as if fearing to see her sire walk in.
“Even from him?” she asked.
Ghan nodded. “Especially from him.”
“You promise?”
“On my honor,” Ghan said extending a hand toward the child, “anyone who wants to hurt you will have to deal with me first.”
A look of pure adoration descended on the diamond shaped face of the lovely child. Her hand drowned in Ghan’s massive palm. Drawing her to him, my mate picked her up and rose to his feet. She cast wary glances at us as he approached to leave the room and tightened her hold around his neck.
Watching them together did something to me I couldn’t describe. It hurt and warmed my heart at the same time. Lenora, like the hundreds of other orphan girls in Haven and on the Tempest, desperately hungered for a father figure. Since the alliance with the Xelixians, the frequent visits from the First Division had given my girls some much needed masculine interactions. But it wasn’t enough. The children wanted someone to call Papa. The envy etched on their faces whenever Lhor and Khel visited with little Zhara broke my heart.
The nanites in my suit stirred, massaging the muscles between my shoulder blades that had tensed under the crushing weight of my endless responsibilities.
Swallowing a sigh, I followed in Ghan’s wake, heading straight for the command center. Curiosity gnawed at me as to why Kamala had asked me to speak to the Korlethean female. Bringing her onboard the ship and discussing things there would have been far more comfortable.
Muting the speakers from my helmet so people around me wouldn’t hear, I commed Kamala and Jezaya. The digital display in their helmet would warn them this was a private conversation so they would know to keep it discreet on their end as well.
“Sisters, we have recovered a Veredian-Guldan hybrid child,” I said.