by KD Jones
The medic snorted from across the room. Evidently he had stopped what he was doing to listen to their conversation. “How could singing offer anything of value?”
She shrugged. “Some music is purely entertainment, for fun. I like singing songs that tell a story.”
“Show me,” TaymAR demanded.
Melody could have refused him, but if she couldn’t win him over with words, maybe she could with her music. What should she sing? None of her cover songs would win him over to help her. Maybe one of her originals. Sohe chose to sing about her dad. These people knew about suffering and losing someone they loved, so she thought it would be the most fitting.
She sang, closing her eyes and losing herself in the story. Tears fell as they always did when she remembered her dad and how much she loved and missed him. When she finished, the room was eerily quiet. She opened her eyes and saw both the medic and the young warrior staring at her in shock and awe. What surprised her most was the male at the door—StrykER the boogie man was back.
Chapter 7
StrykER could hear her voice before he reached the medic room. Others in the hallway stopped to listen. He paused in the doorway and watched as the female sang. He felt the emotions before he saw the images, which never happened.
She sang about her childhood and about how much she loved her family, especially her father. He saw images of her father taking her fishing and watching over her when she went out with a male. Then there were images of her father sick in a white medical room. Then her father passed to the next world and she was heart broken. She laid a rose on the box he was buried in and promised to live her life to the fullest.
The truth was, he didn’t need his abilities to see these images. Her words and emotions built those images for everyone to see. She was a gifted storyteller and if she stayed here, she would be used and eventually killed for OrIN’s insane plan to become Prime Leader.
He cleared his throat, getting the young warrior’s attention. The boy jumped to attention, almost knocking over the table he was standing near.
“Interrogator StrykER—I was just questioning the female about her people.” The warrior stuttered and his face reddened.
“I believe interrogating the prisoner is my job.”
“Yes, sir. I will go.” He bent down, grabbed the tray, and rushed out the door.
StrykER stared at the medic next.
“I downloaded the sample electronically so I can take this to my quarters to study.” The medic gathered his things.
“Yes, do that.” StrykER then turned his attention to the female. The warrior had been in such a hurry to leave, he had forgotten to secure her again. That would have been a call for disciplinary action for one of his warriors.
Once they were alone, he entered the room and closed the door behind him. He walked around the room, looking for exits and anything that could be used as a weapon. He could feel her eyes on him, tracking him as he walked around.
“So, you’re the Kiljorn boogie man who inspires fear in young warriors.”
He smiled, those stories of him were always so exaggerated, but they did help keep the young in check. It also helped if he had to question grown warriors, as they were usually wary of him. They were the least likely to lie to him.
“I see that the young warrior has loose lips around you. I’ll have to talk to him about that.”
“You will not do anything to him!”
She came to the young warrior’s defense even though she was the one being held against her will. Her empathy toward others would get her killed.
He turned her way and approached. His eyes never left hers. She was trapped in his gaze. He was about a foot from her and reached out to stroke her cheek. She didn’t budge, like she was afraid of making sudden movements. Smart female.
He moved his hand down to her neck. “You’re so quick to defend the Purist warrior. If he was given the order—he would snap your lovely neck.” To emphasize his point, he squeezed her neck just a little. Not enough to hurt her. He would never hurt a female even if she deserved it.
“Go ahead, kill me. I’d rather get it over with than have this dragged out.” She lifted her chin in defiance.
She was stubborn and full of fire, and his cock was instantly hard. He wanted her, but that was not a possibility. He released her neck and stepped back from her.
“I’m not here to kill you.”
“You’re here to interrogate and scare me, but I don’t know anything.”
“You were on Katiera for almost a year. You’ve performed at ceremonies and have met some of the primes. You might have more information than you think.”
She looked down at where the tray had been. “Could I have more water? My throat gets dry easily when I sing.”
“I might order it for you if you answer my questions.”
“Is this part of your interrogation skills? Make me suffer?”
His eyes glowed when he looked at her. She was trying to get to him. Problem was, she had already gotten to him.
Her skin was so soft; he craved to touch her everywhere. Her taste was still on his tongue. Her voice, his heart seemed to skip a beat whenever she spoke but when she was singing, she had seemed to wrap around his heart completely.
He had to look away from her. This was not the time or place to have these fanciful thoughts about a female. That’s all she could be to him—just a female. He had a job to do. Part of that job was to get her out of there safely.
“Fine, what do you want to know?”
StrykER had to make it look like he really was trying to get information from her. The cameras had their audio lights displayed, which meant that unlike earlier, whoever was watching the video feed could now hear what they were saying. He just had to bide his time until he could get her out of there. He had to make it look like he was interrogating her without letting anyone know what he was really doing. “Why did the Katierans go to your planet?”
“It’s common knowledge that my planet was dying. The government sent out a request for help and the Katierans came.”
“Did you know when you agreed to come to Katiera that you were coming to be breeding stock?”
Her face turned red and she glared at him. “We’re not breeding stock!”
“Really? How many of your males made the trip? One...two…?”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I take it that none of your males have come.”
“That’s not true. Prima SandELa mated with a man from Earth and they are about to have a baby. Also, there’s a male doctor from Earth who specializes in genetics who was brought to Katiera.”
“Let me guess. His purpose is to help with breeding.”
“Yes, but for Katierans who have been having problems getting pregnant like Prima AriELa. Not for those who mated with humans. So far, I haven't heard of problems for mated mixed pairings getting pregnant.”
Kitana! This was going in a direction that he did not want to go. He had to change the subject without it looking like he was avoiding the topic. “You mentioned Prima SandELa and Prima AriELa. How well do you know the primes?”
“I—not well. I’ve performed at some events and ceremonies that they have attended, but I am not in their social network.”
“What do you mean by social network?”
She shrugged her slim shoulders. “I’m not a dignitary, a prime, or anyone of any real value. I’m just a singer from Earth hoping to revive my music career. As you can see, that’s going real well for me.”
StrykER didn’t know why what she said bothered him. He just didn’t like hearing her talk about herself in that way. She had no idea just how special she was. He had never met anyone who could make people feel emotions simply by singing. It’s a gift from the Goddess. He couldn’t tell her any of that because it would look like he was being sympathetic to her.
“Your song. Was it about someone you know?”
She nodded her head. “Yeah, me and my dad.”
�
��He died?”
“Yes, cancer. It finally caught up to him.”
“Isn’t that the same disease that the Katierans cured Prima Lindsey’s father of?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are the Katierans sharing their ability to heal your primitive diseases?”
“That was part of the agreement, I think, between my government and the Katieran nation. I don't know all the details of the agreement though.”
“If they could have helped your father, why didn’t they?”
She had a sad expression on her face. “My father got sick when I was in high school. He died right before I graduated. I was seventeen at the time. The Katierans didn’t come until about three years ago which was ten years after my father’s death.”
“You’re twenty-seven? You look young for that age.”
She laughed and even the sound was musical. “I feel much older than that. I don’t go out into the sunlight very much which helps protect my skin from ultraviolet rays.”
“The nanos that should have been implanted in you would protect you from any harmful rays.”
“I never thought about it before but that’s good to know.”
“Have you seen any of the warriors prepare to battle?”
“I’ve watched a few training sessions.”
“Have you spent time with a lot of warriors?”
“Where is this going?”
“Just trying to see if you witnessed or overheard anything the warriors might have said.”
“Katieran and Kiljorn warriors do not talk about security issues with me. The only time they ever talked to me about anything was to warn me of the Morins after the attack on Kiljor. They increased their security measures.”
StrykER looked at the time. He would let her get some sleep before he came back. “I’ll send a guard in with a glass of water. Get some rest. We have more questions to ask of you.”
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
Chapter 8
Melody watched as the man named StrykER left. He was dangerous but at the same time, she found him sexy. There was something about him that made her feel like he wouldn’t hurt her. Was it just Stockholm syndrome that made her empathize with her captor? Maybe.
A few minutes later the same young warrior, TaymAR, came in with a glass of water. At least StrykER kept his word.
“Thank you, TaymAR.”
He blushed. “No problem.”
“Do you have training or something to do?”
He shook his head. “StrykER requested that I be the one to guard you.”
“That’s good.” She wasn’t sure what StrykER was up to. Was he trying to get her to let her guard down around TaymAR? Or maybe he wanted to use TaymAR to get her to cooperate. She sighed, knowing if he threatened the young warrior, she would cave.
“Would you sing another song?” TaymAR asked shyly.
“Sure.” What else did she have to do but sing songs to her captors?
He jumped up in excitement. “Would you mind if I recorded you? My friends didn’t believe me when I told them how you sing like a goddess.”
“I must look like a mess.” She took her hair tie out and fluffed out her hair. It fell down her back in waves of brown and gold.
“You’re the most beautiful female I have ever seen,” he said in awe, staring at her long hair.
She smiled at him. He may have a little crush on her. “Thank you, Tay. May I call you Tay?”
He puffed out his chest like she had just given him the biggest compliment. “I would be honored if you call me Tay.” He pulled out his digital tablet from a pack on his back.
She wished she had an instrument with her. What would she sing? Then it came to her. This was the only opportunity she had to show the haters, the Purists, that humans were no threat to them and that they had more in common with each other. It may not be the way she would have wanted to reach out to these people, but she would take what she could get.
She waited for him to get his digital tablet set up. Then she began singing. She sang a few of her old songs, but then she began singing the one she had just written about the Katieran people and their struggles. It wasn’t perfect and she was still working on the ending but she wanted to see how it went over.
Our people were proud and strong;
Blessed by our Goddess.
Nothing could go wrong;
But it did. It did.
They came in like a storm;
Destroyed, left a mess.
Everything touched was harmed;
All they did. They did.
Quick to come, quick to leave;
Our people torn apart.
We struggled to survive;
But we did. We did.
It talked about the Morins and the destruction that they left but also how they struggled to survive. Now as she sung, she realized there was more to the story that needed to be told.
This is our time to start;
For our young now grow.
But still we battle our own hearts;
To the end. The end.
“That was—” TaymAR had to clear his throat because he was filled with emotions.
“I haven’t fine-tuned it, and it will sound better when I can add a melody.”
“Don’t change it. It’s beautiful. Is that how you see my people? We are battling our hearts?”
She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure how to answer without offending him. “It’s a song. You can interpret it however you want.”
“What we are doing, the Purist movement, is vital to cleanse our nation. You should change the song to sing about that.”
“No.”
He turned the tablet off and stuffed it back in his backpack. He angrily stormed to the door and shut the lights out.
If he thought throwing a tantrum would change her opinion, tough shit! She was being held hostage and had been humiliated. Suddenly, she didn’t care about changing people’s opinions and attitudes; she just wanted to be left alone. She curled up on the hard metal table and let the pent-up emotions come out. She cried until she fell asleep.
*****
StrykER watched the female with OrIN and MarIK from the monitor. She was amazing and to see her being stripped down to raw emotions did something to him. He looked at the other two males. OrIN looked disgusted but MarIK—he looked to be fighting an internal battle of wills. Finally, MarIK covered his emotions as neutral.
“Do you think she has more information? She seems useless to me. We should let her go,” MarIK offered.
OrIN glared at him. “You want to just release her to go free? What about setting an example of her?”
MarIK, realizing his mistake, tried to backtrack. “I’m just saying, we set her on some distant moon. If she survives, she survives. She doesn’t have anything we could use to our advantage.”
“We don’t know that yet. I’m still interrogating her.” StrykER was keeping a straight face with no emotions.
“You need to ask her about the Earth females who are breeding. I want to know who they are. I also want any information she has on Prima AriELa.”
Kitana! The male really was interested in the Prima. StrykER was starting to get the impression that the male was obsessed with her.
“I will do my best to get that information from her.” He looked over at MarIK and got images of the young warrior’s tablet. He took this to mean he wanted that tablet. He also got the time again 03:00. He nodded his understanding.
He headed to the medic room where Melody was being kept. The young warrior was standing outside of the room guarding the door. He had the digital tablet in his hands and was replaying Melody’s singing. As soon as he caught sight of StrykER he moved the tablet, holding it behind his back.
“Has it been quiet?” StrykER asked
“Yes, sir.”
“How long have you been living here?” StrykER glanced at the female briefly.
“I’ve lived here my whole life.” The young warrio
r told him hoping to impress him.
“Are your parents still living?”
“My parents died and I had to live with my uncle and cousins.” There was a catch to the young male’s voice.
“Sorry to hear about your parents.”
“When did you join the Purists?”
Images filled the young male’s mind of his uncle demanding that he join with his cousins. It wasn’t a voluntary thing. “A year ago.”
“I have to say, this is one of the better mining communities I’ve been on. It has more exits than I expected.”
A brief flare of images moving through the underground tunnels to the top ran through his mind, but then the warrior started to get suspicious of his questions and wondered if he should be answering them or not. He wondered if he should report this to his superior.
“You’re doing a fine job.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I have to ask for your digital tablet.”
“What?”
“The digital tablet with the recording of the female. I was asked to temporarily borrow it from you. When I and Leader OrIN are done viewing it, it will be returned to you.”
He could tell the young male wasn’t happy about it, but he handed over the digital tablet. “I need you to stand guard until I come back later to relieve you. It may be late. I don’t want anyone, even the medics, to visit her without my permission. Do you think you can manage that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have every confidence in your ability.”
The male puffed out his chest. “No one will enter the room.”
StrykER nodded and left. He wanted to go check on the female again but knew that Leader OrIN was watching her.
He walked Commander MarIK but they didn’t say anything; he just passed MarIK the tablet and kept going. He knew there was a supply closet close by. He found it and waited to make sure no one saw him. He slid the door open and entered. He found the standard warrior uniforms and hats. He also grabbed small-sized boots. His arms were full, but he couldn’t walk around with clothes. It would be too conspicuous.
He spotted a backpack that many of the warriors used. He grabbed two of those. He put one inside the other, along with the clothes. Then he looked for energy packs that the warriors used out in the field. He stuffed some of those in the backpack along with some bottled water. He put the backpack on and opened the door. He walked out casually, grateful to the Goddess that no one was looking his way. He took the backpack back to his quarters. He didn’t take it off until he got to the bathing room.