“They have been paid for.”
Vasco aimed his blaster at the clone that still lived.
“No! No! Please, don’t!” He held up his hands. “I’ve answered your questions. Please, don’t kill him. He has the mind of an infant. Please.”
“Take him and get in there with him,” Vasco said of a plasti-glass enclosed space. It contained exam beds but no communications. “If you attempt to leave, this device will explode. Both of you will die.” Vasco attached a modified shield to the door that would only open with a code shared by his team. Then, Vasco checked his weapons and ran for the stairs.
The ceiling of the underground area was supported by stone pillars that had been reinforced with metal beams. The ceiling far above her head appeared to have been carved from solid stone. Like most of the ancient clan homes in this sector, the fortress had been constructed of stone. Far in the distance, a dim emergency light shone above an alcove where a set of stone steps led upward. If the mercenaries came down to retrieve her, that would be the direction from which they came. With portable light sources, they would be able to spot her easily. She needed a place to hide.
Trying to stay in the deep shadows, she walked back to the netting and began at the wall, walking clockwise and counting her steps. Had anyone been on the stairs, one of the large pillars would have hidden her drop from the laundry shoot. As she walked by the stone wash basin, she could feel the chill coming off of the water. The basins were filled by the pipes leading up to the surface. Snow fell into a large main drainpipe and melted on its way down from several levels above. It was a common practice amongst the frozen planets in the sector. She hoped that no dangerous animals had found their ways inside in search of warmth.
Even being so far below the frozen surface, Tracy was cold. At least the men who had taken her from the ship had encouraged her to dress warmly before kidnapping her. The land port workers of Leucon had done nothing to interfere. Apparently, the extremely wealthy had carte blanche with their behavior toward others. Tracy walked around the ancient laundry washing basin careful to keep her hand against the stone wall. She placed her left hand on the cold stone arch above the grated entrance to the underground lake and stepped over the gutter that carried a stream of overflow inside of it. Peering into the darkness, she couldn’t see how far either the stone gutter or flooring continued inside of the cave-like entrance. The air from the underground river felt considerably colder and made her shiver.
To her right, she saw another pillar off in the darkness. Finding herself in its shadow, she looked toward the stairs far to her right near what she thought must be a corner. Instinct made her long for the light. The eerie feeling that she was being watched made her hair stand on end. Tracy came to a corner that angled off into total darkness. A few feet in front of her on the left were old wooden crates that were stacked against the stone wall. Slowly walking around them, she strained to see.
Telepathically, she felt something there, and then she saw it. A flash of white came toward her making her jump and her heart pound. It was a man. His arms and chest were bare exposing skin paler than her own. As he came closer, Tracy could see the brown hair and eyes of a Parvac. This must be one of the clones Jazon hunted. However, the clone’s eyes had a wrongness to them which spurred her to reach out with her weak telepathic abilities. What she sensed made her turn around and run for the lighted stairs.
Tracy could hear the clone’s bare feet slapping against the stone floor as he ran after her. He wasn’t as fast as Tracy. She ran past a set of generators and another stone pillar before making it to the alcove where the stairs were located. She began running up the steps hoping that one of the guards had come to capture her. Instead, white arms loomed out at her from the darkness of the steps above.
Tracy screamed and dropped into a crouch. The arms that had made a grab for her clutched at nothing. Tracy felt a foot hit her ribs as the clone tripped over her huddled body and fell. She looked up. Another clone, grinning so that she could see most of his teeth, ran down the stairs toward her. Quickly, she stood, turned, and ran back the way she had come. She tried to jump over the clone that had fallen, but it caught her left ankle.
With a panicked scream, she kicked herself free and scrambled away on her hands and knees. She ran past the groping hands of the first clone that had been chasing her. The wall by the stairs was stacked high with storage crates. Tracy paused long enough to toppled several of them behind her. She raced past a table, strewn with empty food containers, and four chairs. Beside the messy dining area were four unmade cots. A small room in the far corner contained a waste unit and shower. It reeked of urine, and the door had been broken off.
Tracy screamed as a clone jumped out at her from behind a pillar. She could hear the disjointed slap of feet on stone as the other clones converged on her. She fought against the clone’s groping hands. He grunted behind her and began to hump at her back with his erection. Disgusted, Tracy drove her elbow into his sternum, brought the heel of her boot down on his toes, and broke free of his hold.
She ran at full speed to the net that had caught her fall. She climbed onto it and tried to bounce enough to get back into the laundry shoot, but it was too high and slippery. Excited yelling from four clones followed behind and grew closer. Tracy jumped down from the net with the intention of making another run for the stairs.
However, the clones spread out to block her, so she ran in the opposite direction and the darkest section that was around the angled left corner. Tracy climbed up the old wooden storage chests and willed her frantic breathing to slow. She felt like a small mouse trapped in a cage with four feral cats. The clones hunted for her. She watched them from her shadowed perch. They didn’t think to look up. That was when Tracy say a pair of eyes watching her from a foot away. Tracy screamed. The rat screeched back at her and leaped from the boxes to the stone floor. The clones yelled in excitement and began chasing the rat.
Well, three of them ran after the frightened creature. One set of eyes stared up at her from a few feet below. He began tearing the wooden boxes free of the stack. When Tracy was left crouching on one wobbly tower, she jumped free. The crates toppled down beside her. She ran for the grate that hid the underground river. Determined to squeeze through, she got her head and then right arm and shoulder through the cold metal bars. Then, when she was struggling to get her hips through, her waistband got caught on the metal.
The clone grabbed her ankles and tried to pull her back out. Tracy pushed against the bars with her hands, and her elbows locked. Then, she grabbed at the ground beneath her for leverage. Her fingers clasped at a rock. She threw it at the clone, but it hit the grate and bounced off. Tracy picked it up and tried again. This time, it flew through and hit him on the forehead. His release of her ankles combined with her pushing against the bars was enough to free her. The clone screamed furiously that his new toy had gotten away.
Tracy scrambled out of his reach and tried to catch her breath. Moments later, the terrified rat joined her and scurried off into the freezing water. Tracy stared at the clone. His brothers, having followed the rat, had joined him. There was no humanity in their eyes, Parvac or otherwise. There was only an animalistic instinct to satisfy basic needs. They began tugging at the grate. Tracy didn’t think they had the strength to pull it free, but she wasn’t a betting woman.
Rats were survivalists. If the rodent’s instincts had led it to run along the underground river, Tracy was going to trust it. Perhaps, if she were out of the clones’ sight, they would lose interest in her. The ground beneath her was formed of hewn stone. Tracy began a careful jog beside the open gutter that carried the snow melt back to a water source. Soon, a fine gravel replaced the stone underfoot. Then, it became jagged rock and sandy clay.
Tracy had followed the drainage system into an underground cave. There weren’t as many rats as she had feared. Her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness. It was a benefit of having grown up on Aurilius with its feeble light. She was
cold, but her occasional stumbles made her hesitant to put her hands into her pockets. So far, she hadn’t found a good place to hide.
Clangs against the metal grate and frustrated yells continued to reach her ears and drove her slowly forward. Jazon had been silent in her mind, and she feared more for him than for herself. The skin of her stomach burned. Wetting her hands in the stream, she drank the cold clean water and took a few minutes to rest. She couldn’t see the skin around her hips but assumed it was torn. She pressed her wet palms to her burning skin to soothe it. The stitch in her side had forced her to take a seat, and the cold ground seeped into her through her pants. Tracy’s own panic threatened to strike her at any moment. What if the cave became smaller and narrower, leaving her trapped and cornered? Her education rescued her and forced her fears back. Based upon the age of the fortress and the effects of erosion, it was far more likely that an opening awaited her discovery. The rats had to have a way in and out. Furthermore, Jazon was a highly-skilled warrior, a telepath, and would overcome any obstacles placed in his path. He had told her to hide. He had claimed her as his first wife and would come for her. Tracy just needed to hide and wait.
A loud clanking and clattering of metal followed by barely articulate cheers had Tracy getting wearily to her feet. The clones had torn down the metal grate. Slowly, she trudged along, letting the trickle of water in the small stream guide her. Maybe the clones would go the wrong way or get distracted and forget about her. Tracy sped up as a frigid breeze encouraged her forward. Behind her, she could hear feet splashing in the freezing stream. The clones didn’t have enough sense to keep their bare feet out of the water.
Faint light began to cast some illumination upon her surroundings. She lowered her head in time to avoid an area of rock that jutted down above her. Scattered haphazardly around the cave floor and made visible by the ever-growing light were white, skeletal remains of rats and other animals. Trepidation grew within Tracy. Cautiously, she reached the mouth of the cave where the water trickled down and away. Large conifers provided some shelter from the cold wind.
Tracy held her arms around herself while watching snow-covered boughs lift and fall in the raging blizzard. Snowflakes swirled in the air in front of her. In this weather and without proper clothing, it would be certain death to leave the cave. However, she might be able to trick the clones into thinking she had left. If they followed her, she could wait and then run back to the washroom and up the stairs.
Then, she heard a snuffling sound and the crunch of snow out beyond the cave. Fear froze Tracy more effectively than the heavily falling snow or the clones chasing behind her. The four clones seemed harmless in comparison to what she now believed waited just a few feet away. A loud huffing grunt rumbled from deep within what sounded like a massive body. Quietly, Tracy began backing away. Gleeful male sounds converged on her as the clones grabbed her and sniffed at her, feeling her hair and attempting a game of tug of war with her arms.
“Hush! Run back!” Tracy whispered to them in terror.
They were loud, aggressive, and didn’t pay her words any heed. Tracy tried to shrug them off. She could hear the ice bear sniffing at the wind. Panic washed over her. She was bleeding around her hips from the grate. It could smell her. The loud roar it made had Tracy trying to dash back the way she had come, but the clones refused to release her. They didn’t understand being hunted. They only enjoyed being hunters.
Mindless of the cold and wearing only pants, one of the clones stupidly walked to the entrance to investigate. The mighty roar that followed blew the clone’s short brown hair back. Before he could run, a massive claw swiped at him. The force of the blow sent his body thudding against the cave entrance. The clones released her and stupidly ran to their brother.
“No! Come back! Hurry!” Tracy yelled futilely after them. She heard a second roar in the distance. She jumped when a hand grabbed her elbow.
It was Lieutenant Vasco. With his eyes, he willed her to follow and obey. He darted to the cave entrance with his blasters leading the way. Tracy stayed no more than two steps behind him. He went to the right. Tracy shivered and felt her extremities beginning to freeze. She tried not to look at the red slushy snow they were leaving behind in front of the cave. The last of the three remaining clones had tried to run, but the ice bear put its massive clawed paw to his back and knocked him down. The clone screamed as the ice bear opened its huge mouth and crushed the clone’s head, silencing it. Tracy began to wretch.
Vasco grabbed her wrist and pulled her along the side of the mountain. The ground shook beneath them, and snow fell from the trees as a second ice bear charged toward them. It had been enticed by the roars of its brother and the smell of fresh, warm blood. Tracy closed her eyes and whimpered. She had to open them as Vasco tugged her forward and wedged her into a rocky crevice. He followed behind her. Tracy clawed with frozen fingers at the snow and rocks trying to wedge herself in deeper. Tracy was wedged in sideways. She hoped Vasco had wedged himself in enough to remain safe.
The ice bear was so close that Tracy could see the cold air coming out of its black nose and the white hair covering its rounded ears. It opened its mouth and roared revealing long, sharp, yellowed incisors. Terrified tears froze on Tracy’s cheeks. Vasco fired a blast into the ice bear’s mouth. The huge beast sneezed. Suddenly, the sounds of blaster fire filled the air as Vasco began firing in rapid succession. Another roar echoed in the distance.
“We need some help down here. Three and no cover,” Vasco said into his communications piece. He continued firing blast after blast to keep the angry ice bear away. It roared in fury. Tracy’s hands and feet had gone numb, but she felt warmer. She was just so tired. “Hey! Stay awake!” Vasco yelled. He jostled her with his leg as he moved back to avoid the heavy swipe of a clawed paw.
Blaster shots echoed around them. Tracy’s fear vanished, and all of her thoughts focused with stunning clarity upon the snowflakes that drifted down around her. Vasco dropped a blaster and caught a rifle that flew through the air to him. Tracy rested the side of her head to the cliff wall and watched another snowflake fall. Understanding of the sounds and activities around her were hidden from her mind. Then, Jazon was there. He removed his jacket and sealed her within its warmth. Then, her face was hidden against his neck as he lifted her into his arms and carried her back inside of the cave.
She must have slept because Jazon was saying, “Go through, and I’ll pass her to you.”
Then, Vasco was holding her.
The next thing she knew, she and Jazon were naked in a warm bath. “There you go. I’ve got you, Tracy. Can you feel your fingers?”
It took a few moments before she could answer. Gingerly, she moved them. “Yes.”
“Good. I was worried you would freeze before I could get to you.”
“What happened?” Tracy asked.
Jazon drained the tub. It had been hewn from a tree trunk and made smooth with use. Jazon stood with her in his arms, stepped from the tub, and laid her down on a thick blanket. Then, he began to briskly dry her with towels. A large fire burned in the fireplace and gave the room its only illumination. After quickly drying himself, he carried her to a nest of blankets before the fire.
“Rest, Tracy. I’ll tell you all about it in a little while.” He gave her mind a gentle push. Tracy yawned against his chest and slept. Through the ear she had pressed to Jazon’s chest, she heard him say, “Thanks,” to someone.
Jazon was holding her close. She was warm and safe cuddled against him beneath thick blankets. Her head throbbed. “Now, will you tell me what happened?”
“After you eat something.” Sitting up, Jazon pulled Tracy up with him. He pulled her back against his chest. Then, he placed a hot bowl of thick stew in her hands. “Eat all of that,” he ordered.
After consuming the last bite, Tracy said, “I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
“Wait a moment,” Jazon said. Tracy realized that he had spoken those words into a communications devi
ce. “Tracy, you should be safe in here. There is a waste unit behind that screen, and there are rations and dry clothes in this pack. I’m leaving you a blaster. Outside, the blizzard has made leaving impossible. We have the hired mercenaries trapped two levels up. Their employer tried to leave in the shuttle that brought you here from the land port. It went down because of visibility issues. We’ve tracked him. He plans to hide in the nearby forest until he can fly out of here. We will capture him and bring him back. Please, try to remain in this room.” Jazon dressed quickly. “Activate this shield once I close the door,” he said as he left.
Chapter Eight
Clutching a blanket to her chest, Tracy did as he asked. Then, she made use of the waste unit. Her hips were scratched and bruised but had been cleaned and bandaged. She dressed in clothing from Jazon’s pack, a black long-sleeved thermal shirt with matching elastic-waisted pants, and a pair of thick socks. Her boots and clothing were drying by the fire. Thoughts of the ice bears and the clones made her shudder.
She looked around the clean room. It had been used recently. She could tell because of the logs stacked by the fireplace and the addition of the portable waste unit. Jazon must have appropriated its use from one of the mercenaries. Tracy grabbed Jazon’s blaster and fastened its holster around her waist, adjusting it so it didn’t touch her scrapes. The clones had unnerved her more than her husband was letting her realize.
She could hear Jaimie now. “Tracy, tell me all about your honeymoon! Did he take you to Sinope? That’s where I’m going with my husband.”
“No, we spent our honeymoon fleeing from clones, ice bears, and mercenaries, but thanks for asking.” With a sigh, Tracy sat on the pile of furs and wrapped the blankets around herself.
“Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me?” asked an unassuming older man through a communications system Tracy hadn’t noticed.
She got up and walked over to the wall panel beside the door and accepted the call. An old man with white hair appeared.
Jazon: An Omnes Videntes Novel Page 7