Taking Karre

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Ugh! Quiet, brain, Karre scolded her wayward thoughts. This isn’t a game. It’s not about sex. I’m making a point. He needs to know he can trust me. He needs to know I can take care of myself.

  Seeing a basin of water, she slowly bathed, running a wet cloth over her flesh. The fire dried her as she paced naked through her chamber, stretching her muscles and restlessly plotting. How to get to Battlewar to the portal? Or would her “daring” escape from the courtyard be enough to convince Vidar that she knew what she was doing?

  She stopped. A chill crept up her spine, filling her with dread. Karre slowly turned.

  “I knew that locator we implanted would come in handy.” Director Tomes lounged against the wall as if he’d always been there, watching, waiting. The tight black of his Divinity uniform molded to his body like a second skin and the wrist portal wrapped his wrist. He was alone. His cold eyes dipped over her naked body and he smiled. “You’re looking well.”

  Karre fought the urge to run and hide. Forcing her limbs to remain steady, she went to her trunk to pull out her most conservative tunic.

  “There is no need to cover up for me. In fact, Sparkles,” he paused and arched a brow. “May I call you Sparkles?” When she didn’t answer, he continued, “Why don’t you put the gown on the bed?”

  Karre made a move to pull it over her head.

  “I insist.” He tapped a laser pistol as it rested in a side holster next to his leg.

  Karre tossed the gown on the bed. “What do you want?”

  “Perhaps I should call you Lady Karre.” Tomes laughed, pushing off the wall. “That is what they call you here, isn’t it?”

  “Call me what you wish. I’m used to many names.” She shrugged a shoulder. “What do you want, Tomes?”

  “I must say you have done quite nicely for yourself. I’m not surprised. Women like you tend to make your way to the top no matter where you go. Though, I will admit, I had hoped you would end up the wife of a mucker, but then this place,” Tomes gave a disdainful look around, “is hardly civilized. Even the lords and ladies are primitive, living by fire and sword. How hard it must be for you knowing of the worlds you have seen, knowing of the things you done. I could never live here.”

  “What do you want, Tomes?” she repeated.

  “Want?” He chuckled. “I will give these Starians one thing. They do know how to dress their women.” His eyes dipped over her. Karre didn’t move. “The men are a little too muscled for my taste, but I saw a few skirts I wouldn’t mind plundering. There is nothing sexier than a lush woman forced to bend to my will.”

  “I’m really not interested in your sex life, so I will ask one last time, what do you want, Tomes?”

  His cold gaze grew colder still. “What have you done with the information you have stolen? We’ve traced every jump in your history. You never go to the same place twice, but we know you have documents. Where are they? Are you working with someone?”

  “What reason would I possibly have to tell you?” she asked. Her eyes roamed to the wrist device and her fingers flexed, eager to touch it, to possess it. They would never find where she had gone or how she hid her tracks.

  Tomes followed her attention down his arm. “Interestingly enough, when we traveled to where you had been we noticed something. This device rewrites itself. There is no way of telling where it’s gone without the code to reset it. We realized the only way we’re going to find our documents is if you take us. Ingenious of you really. I’m impressed. But then again, I am smarter.”

  “Modest, too,” she mumbled sarcastically.

  “I knew there was a reason to keep you alive, a reason far greater than trading for warm water.” Tomes drew near, too near for her liking. He looked, but he made no move to touch her.

  “You say you’re smart, but you keep making me repeat myself,” Karre mumbled, before saying very slowly, “What reason would I possibly have to tell you? What is in it for me?”

  “Help me and I’ll get you off this plane.”

  “One plane is as good as any other,” she said, nonchalantly. “You would have to do better than that.”

  “Then help me or I’ll kill everyone on this plane and leave you to rot here alone or at the mercy of anyone I choose to send here to join you.” His slow smile and narrowed gaze made more promises than his words ever could. “Is that better?”

  “You’ve had your look.” Karre reached for her gown and stepped back. She tugged it on. The loose material billowed around her without the aid of a corset. “What exactly do you propose? I know I can’t trust you.”

  “Oh, I’m hurt,” he said in feigned shock. When she didn’t react, he smiled. “It’s simple. You don’t have a choice in the matter. Come with me, be a good girl and I let you live.”

  “An offer I can’t refuse,” she muttered, knowing his words weren’t an idle threat.

  Tomes reached for his wrist. “Get ready to travel, Lady Sparkles. You have one last job to do. Save this world or I will destroy it.”

  —

  Vidar could barely breathe. The guilt and worry ate a constant knot in his stomach and settled a permanent weight over his heart. Karre was gone, vanished like a wood spirit into the night forest. He had looked everywhere, questioned everyone. Beyond a few people saying they saw her walking alone from the courtyard to the castle, there was no sign of her—no tracks, no fairy rings she could have slipped through, nothing. He would have yelled at the knights manning the wall, but he had only ordered them to make sure Karre was well, not to keep her prisoner. For all they knew, she had been participating in some otherworlder ritual.

  One conclusion could be drawn. His stubborn wife had talked about infiltrating Magda’s encampment and she must have put her plan into motion. But how did she escape the chains? How did she escape an armed fortress full of his knights without being seen?

  Already rumors surfaced about Karre’s disappearance. The maids claimed she’d been moved to the dungeons. The knights thought the newly married couple played games. Only Synna seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Vidar—Karre went to battle.

  He wanted to look for her. His heart ached to do so, but duty demanded he fight. Magda was close. Sorin and his men were ready for battle. The king’s orders were clear. His duty to protect his countrymen weighed heavily on him. And in doing his duty perhaps he could somehow find Karre and bring her home. In the end, Vidar spread the rumor throughout Spearhead Fortress that his wife rode out with him to war, to support his efforts and show the Caniba she was not afraid. After what Karre told Synna and the others was spread about, his claim would be believed.

  Gods curse her! How could she run off? How could she leave me now? Before such an important battle?

  Maybe the king’s fears were founded and these otherworld women would bring them nothing but trouble. Maybe he worried for naught. Maybe Karre was safe and had merely run away from him. Maybe she was in Magda’s clutches right now only feet away from him underground.

  Maybe, maybe, maybe!

  “Argh!” Vidar screamed, charging his horse forward as the ground began to shake beneath him. The not-knowing ate at him and he turned his frustration to the only thing he could—the battle before him.

  He lifted his sword, hacking his way through the surrounding enemy. More Caniba emerged from the ground, covered in dirt as they clawed their way up like a mound of spreading ants. The hairy beasts all looked the same to him—smelly, pelt-covered monsters with sunken eyes and sharpened teeth. Their hair hadn’t seen a comb, ever, and he highly doubted any of them had heard of bathing.

  Three days earlier, Sorceress Magda’s army had come up from the ground right through the middle of their encampment. Like a giant serpent of dirt snaking through the ground, the topsoil had sucked into a pit taking a few of their men with it. Caniba warriors rose up, splitting Vidar and Sorin’s armies in two. Sorin’s men were surrounded, fighting with little reprieve an army twice the dwindling size of theirs.

  Vidar ordered
his men to hold their ground, as they worked their way deeper into Magda’s territory. If they found the sorceress, they could end this. The Caniba felt nothing beyond a driving need to please their queen. Without Magda, her minions would become a scattered mess.

  With each thrust of his sword, he heard Karre’s name whispering through his head. He slayed his enemy, thrusting his sword into flesh, trying not to watch the Canibas’ distorted faces, faces that were impassioned even in death. The smell of sweat, blood and dirt filled each gulping breath. Metal hit upon metal, clanging and clashing over the rough terrain of the battlefield. Starians shouted and moaned, the Caniba growled and grunted and all around them men died.

  Karre. Karre. Karre, his mind chanted, tormenting him with the knowledge that he didn’t know where she was.

  Vidar fought harder, yelling an ancient battle cry to the gods. Then a cry sounded, carried on the wind, “To Lord Sorin! He’s going for the sorceress!”

  Blinking hard as sweat stung his eyes, Vidar took his focus from the immediate area to look at the large picture. He’d been so intent on the fight he hadn’t realized they’d met their goal. They’d rejoined with Sorin’s men. Vidar swiped his brow, watching as Sorin made his way toward the makeshift throne of Sorceress Magda.

  Eerily pristine in her gown of sparkling white, Magda sat on a carved wood platform, lifted up so that she might watch the carnage she had created with the pride of a goddess. Her evil children swarmed around her, a thick, living wall of protection. Dark, smooth hair fell about her shoulders to her waist and the inky depths of her eyes became even more so by the black lines drawn thick around them.

  “To Sorin!” Vidar shouted, seeing how close the lord was. If Sorin could get to her, he could end this. Burning, white heat radiated over his stomach as sharp, metal-tipped nails clawed through his tunic to rake his flesh. He grunted, too consumed by the battle to stop and notice the cut, even as he felt blood trickling down his waist.

  “To Sorin!” the men caught up his cry. “To a good death!”

  “Help him!” Vidar ordered. A blade cut his arm and then his thigh, as he pushed harder and faster. “Fight to Lord Sorin!”

  Sorin had broken rank, leaving a tightly formed unit of knights behind him. Caniba soldiers turned their attentions to him. No Starian had ever made it so close to her in battle.

  “To Sorin!” the men shouted.

  Caniba warriors surrounded the man, bearing down on him. There was no way Sorin could fight his way through the crowd alone. In a bold move, the lord threw his main line of defense, launching his sword through the air at Magda. The swarm took him down before the blade hit its mark.

  Vidar pushed forward, feeling his men at his back. Magda screeched, slumping in her throne. Instantly, her men panicked, turning the tide of the battle as they retreated. The battlefield cleared and the Starians gave chase. Finding Sorin on the ground, wounded with claw and teeth marks, Vidar dropped to his knees to check the man.

  “He lives,” Vidar said. “Find Lance to tend his wounds and then get him to the marsh encampment.” To a nearby group, he ordered, “Search the fallen.”

  Vidar stood as his orders were carried out. He breathed hard and gripped his sword in frustration. With a violent scream, he threw the weapon after the Caniba warriors. The enemy was too far and the blade embedded into the dirt.

  Karre. Karre. Karre.

  “I’ve lost her,” he whispered, sure he’d never felt anything as painful as the helplessness the idea caused.

  —

  Uncharted Dimension, The Dead Plane

  Blood trickled down Karre’s chin, but she refused to swipe it away. Hot wind would dry it soon enough and she wouldn’t give Director Tomes the pleasure of seeing her discomfort. The beginning ache of a bruise stretched over her jaw.

  The desolate plains of the uncharted dimension went on for what Karre imagined would be the whole planet. Here Earth was nothing but sand and rock and wind. Nothing grew on the surface and by extension no animals lived. It’s why she called it the dead plane. It’s why it was the perfect hideout. She had never seen another person there until now.

  “I need assurances that you won’t leave me here,” she said, keeping her emotionless gaze fixed on his face. A man like the director wouldn’t expect her to give in too easily. Tomes had brought her himself, not going to a Divinity base for assistance. She wondered which piece of information she had that made him worried enough to come here alone.

  Karre wasn’t surprised when he hit her again, this time in the ribs. Growling, he waved his laser pistol in her direction. “I said move it.”

  Karre tried to take a deep breath and coughed. Holding her injured ribs, she stumbled up the side of the rock incline at the base of a lonely mountain in the sandy sea. Her feet slipped on a bed of sand.

  “Move,” he growled. “No tricks or I will leave you here.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m moving. Next time you want your prisoner to move faster, try not hitting her in the ribs.” On the top of the incline the ground leveled out and she limped toward a small opening in the rock face.

  “Oh, you’d be surprised at what I could do with a female prisoner.” He chuckled, the dark sound causing a creepy sensation in her stomach. “Or perhaps you wouldn’t be surprised since you already know. Did you like watching my files? Do you know how much men are willing to give to visit my mansion of pleasure? They won’t be pleased that you have the contact list.”

  Karre kept her back to him so he couldn’t see her face. She didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. But then, to be fair, she hadn’t looked at all her stolen files. She just collected them to be analyzed later when she had enough gemstones saved to set up her own personal research base somewhere.

  “Are we close?” he asked, when she refused to answer him.

  “It’s in the cave.” She leaned against a boulder and motioned to the entrance. It was evident by this chatty mood that he didn’t plan on letting her leave. If he didn’t kill her first, he’d leave her here to die. It wouldn’t take long, not in the plane’s horrible elements.

  Tomes motioned for her to go first. “No tricks.”

  The stone was warm to the touch, almost hot. She knew come nightfall the temperature would drop drastically. Very mindful of her footing, she inched inside, turning sideways in the narrower space. Reaching forward into the darkness, her hand hit a tarp. She pulled it aside.

  “Wait,” Tomes ordered.

  “I’m not going anywhere. You have the portal.” She stiffened as the tip of his gun pressed into the small of her back. “There’s light just inside.”

  Karre inched forward, reaching around the corner for the old lantern. Finding it, she reached along the side, grabbing a small knife she kept there for situations just like this. Director Tomes truly underestimated her or truly overestimated himself.

  Holding the lantern, she turned the knob several times to light it while keeping the small folded knife in her hand. The sharpened side of the blade bent over toward the handle, keeping it from cutting her palm.

  A soft glow illuminated her cave. The dingy brown-and-gray rock had been more home to her over the years than any other place. Now, when she thought of home, she thought of piercing eyes flecked with gold, of swords and knives, of castles and thick forests. She thought of strong hands, toe-curling kisses and a deep voice that made her heart thump wildly in her chest.

  The cave fanned out in an oval, carved with jagged walls and natural shelves. A stuffed mat had been rolled and stuck in the corner, just in case she ever needed to stay the night. Freeze-dried foodstuffs were buried in a sealed container, as were medical supplies.

  “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” Karre frowned and set the light on the ground. Stark, ghoulish shadows formed on his face, but she read the truth in his eyes. “There is no point in denying it. We both know how this game is played.”

  “Indeed,” he agreed.

  “What about the Starians? Will you let them liv
e?”

  “There’s no reason to hurt the Starians. They have proven to be quite useful for a dumping ground. You, Jayne Hart, Lilith Grian.” He chuckled. “It worked better than I could have ever hoped. Marriage as a prison. You have to admire the serendipity.”

  “You are the reason we…?” She frowned. “What did they do?” When he looked like he would refuse to answer, she added, “What does it matter if you tell me? I’m dead anyway.”

  “Jayne ‘The Sweet’ Hart lost a fight and in the process lost me a substantial bet. Lilith Grian was a foolish data analyst, logging her little historical notes. She was easily expendable.” Tomes looked over Karre. “The other two we sent saw some of our men coming through a portal. Funny how the Starians sent them back. Even if they do talk about what happened to them, no one on their plane will believe them.” He started laughing, his eyes tearing up with mirth. “We once kidnapped a bunch of people from some half-developed plane dressed as these gray, big-eyed, big-headed creatures, probed them anally and then set them down naked in random fields. They told the other inhabitants on their plane they were taken by aliens. They still don’t know what all that anal probing was about. I swear, we were so drunk. Now that was a video file you should have stolen. It is unforgettable.”

  “You’ve got issues, you know that, right?” Karre didn’t find the same amusement in his sick games as he did.

  “You still don’t get it. When we discovered how to jump to new planes, we discovered the potential to become gods. We can go anywhere, do anything and they can’t stop us. Sure, some of the corporation tries to install rules and moral codes, but those of us willing to claim our right as gods are truly free.”

  “I was wrong. You don’t have issues—you’re just insane.” She backed away from him, toward the jagged stone of the cave wall.

  His laughter died and he frowned. “Now it’s your turn. What made you think you could fight us?”