And what the hell is a ghinkow?
God she longed to bellow insults back at them, preferably from a greater distance and with a battalion of armed, A-grade Alliance troops between them, but she saved her breath. Besides, the creative, offensive remarks she’d spat at her captors in the detention camp as they’d drawn pain across every nerve hadn’t seemed to make one iota of impact.
She curled her fingers around the edge of a slab of rock cresting the mound and hauled herself up and over. The female knelt by her prostrate side, prodded her shoulder.
“Come. Come.”
She rolled to her feet and scanned the surrounding green woods.
Where the hell is TL?
Branches cracked. Harsh, taunting laughter filled with the promise of brutal torment seemed to come from every direction. The female gasped, tugged on Kat’s arm, urging her towards a natural stone archway. Kat followed, her pumping legs brushing through knee-high ferns. She threw a glance over her shoulder. No one—ally or enemy—in sight.
Come on, T’Hargen, my man, we need you.
She ducked under the low curve of stone. Sweet fragrance imbued the air. Tall spires of pink, blue, and yellow blooms filled a small clearing enclosed by sheer, grey rock etched with curling, swirly signs. Kat propped amidst the grove of flowers, staring at the markings.
What had that soldier said? ‘She made the device work.’ That they needed to alert command about the breakthrough.
She darted her gaze around. Centred amidst the floral profusion stood a bronze, isosceles pyramid about three feet high.
Oh, shit. If that’s what I think it is, we’re in more trouble than I thought.
Her heart carved out a hollow in her chest as though preparing for a tombstone. She spun towards the stone archway. Fifty feet beyond its curve three Bluthen sprinted towards them.
The female hissed. Kat desperately searched the area behind the males. No sign of TL or T’Hargen. Could she hold the Bluthen off? Doubtful. Not three of them. Maybe she could—
Purple light flashed out. She blinked.
A lurid, pink sunrise spread across a sky lightening over a vast plain of deep-green grass.
Once again, it appears as though we have left Kansas.
Chapter 12
Anxiety scoured T’Hargen’s organs like acid. He stared at the three, stunned Bluthen, crumpled where Drone had shot them, in the grass near a natural rock arch. Of Kathryn, there was no sign. No answer to his roaring her name. He pushed back the frantic concerns for her safety clamouring against his soul. He needed calm, objectivity. Logic. Fear shivered across his heart. He dismounted the aerobike and stalked towards the Bluthen.
“How long before they awaken?”
“Some time. They should not have menaced Katelena.”
He glanced up at Drone hovering over the bodies. Sunlight glinted off his polished, black skin and iridescent patches. A wry smile twisted one corner of T’Hargen’s lips.
“You don’t have to justify your use of force to me, Drone. I would not have been dismayed had you taken their lives. Though no doubt my brother will wish to question them. Is he on his way?”
“Affirmative, with troops.”
Kathryn’s commpod lay at the base of the nearby rock wall. Drone had tracked her to this place then her bio-signature had vanished. He scanned the grass and green wood for clues. Despite his apprehension, relief sang in him at the lack of a body. Herbaceous, flowering plants filled a small grotto behind the rock arch. A trail of broken leaves suggested passage by a reasonably sized body. He strode forwards into the little, perfumed glade.
Cursive symbols scored the rock walls. His heart climbed up his throat, left a vacant crater within his ribcage.
“Kathryn!”
His bellow bounced back at him, emphasising the utter emptiness hollowing his chest. Drone shot by him and hovered over a pedestal-size pillar in the midst of the flowers. He glared at it.
Did she go this way? What else is there? It fits the sudden disappearance of her life sign.
“Is there a Masterframe on this planet, Drone?”
“No. I do not know what this is.”
He narrowed his eyes at the pillar. It must be a teleportation device. She had to have utilised it. Drone’s sensors would be able to detect her otherwise. Even if she were— His mind sheered away from the thought, unable to even process the idea. Unwilling to approach the black abyss of a world without her in it.
He pulled mono-rope from a pocket, strode back to the Bluthen, secured them, then rose and assessed the pillar once more. “What do you say to attempting a field trip, Drone?”
“I say yes, Adjunct.”
~ ~ ~
Kat sent her gaze in a wide circle. A cool, gentle breeze brushed her cheeks. Behind them, a ridgeline of huge, tumbled boulders crossed the landscape and ended in a small hill. Here and there, great blocks of stone perched atop each other like a giant’s gallery of rock balancing. Scrubby shrubs grew sporadically in fissures and crannies.
She turned and faced the rising sun. The thick, spongy, clumps of dark-green grass beneath her feet flowed away over the flat plain. Not a tree, bush, or rock interrupted the uniform surface. Wind whistled a soft note then silenced.
“Come. We must not stay here.”
She glanced down at the petite female by her side.
How to explain?
“No.” She pointed to herself then the small pillar. “I must go back soon. Are you all right here? Is this where you live?”
The female blinked rapidly. “Yes, I am. It is. I understand, but you must not return yet, and we should not remain in the open.”
She narrowed her eyes at her companion.
“You understand me?”
Another rapid blink. “Here, yes. This is a . . . special place.”
The wind crooned and brushed light strokes against her face, almost like her mother used to.
“Come. We will not go far. Just away from seeking eyes. It is best not to draw attention.”
Can’t argue with that.
She followed—
“What’s your name?”
“Shaharna,” the female threw over her shoulder.
“Call me Kat.”
Shaharna blinked and continued to move with the assurance of someone who knew her territory well, never once referring to the rocky landscape behind them for direction. The lavish, neon-pink display of the rising sun melted to gold and blue. The grass seemed to become impossibly greener. A sense of invitation, of welcome, drew at her senses. Something about the unbroken green of the ground not far ahead caught her gaze.
Slight change of colour there.
She scrutinised the difference as they neared. Outlines became clearer, formed into . . . huge, overlapping, oval leaves covered with short tendrils to match the grass, that weaved an almost complete canopy over a narrow gulch. The soft trickle of liquid drifted from below.
She glanced at Shaharna.
“This is where you want me to wait?”
Rapid blinking.
Kat surfed a hand forwards.
“After you then.”
Shaharna’s head jerked back, her eyes almost crossed, the delicate flares of her nostrils rippled.
Astonishment? A tinge of fear?
A woman much unused to common courtesy, and the consequences of not maintaining her societal place, might react that way.
Another indicator of oppression?
“Please lead the way, Shaharna.”
Of course it could just be that my belief that this woman would welcome help is based in arrogance, and something preferably to be avoided lies below.
Shaharna’s fingers twitched, one foot rested on the ball, then a determined light entered her dar
k eyes. She straightened, held her head higher, pivoted on the spot, and dropped through the lush growth at her feet as though feet first into a pool.
Right then. I’d prefer a preview, thank you.
She knelt, rested her shins on the spongy grass, and leaned close to the leaves. Shaharna’s face appeared in front of her nose.
“The depth is not large,” the other woman said and again disappeared into the verdant vegetation.
Kat shrugged, gripped the edge of the gully, and lowered herself through the soft, silicon-texture of the foliage into cool shade. Arms almost at full stretch, she found solid purchase on stable ground. She released her fingers and faced about. Small bunches of pinhead-sized, white lights wafted across the underside of the canopy.
Oh, shit.
She recoiled.
“They will not harm you,” Shaharna assured.
“They will not harm you.”
The barely heard echo seemed to come from deep within her ears. Confusion divided her attention between the lights and the . . . whatever that was.
“What?” She wasn’t entirely sure to whom she addressed that question.
Being fanciful again.
“Welcome, child.”
Or not.
The lights swirled and formed into several rings. Radiance bounced off a long row of slim, pencil-straight, smooth, pale trunks.
“The trees line the entire gully?”
Shaharna blinked. “Most of it, yes, and the tributaries. They provide shelter and concealment for us so we can move about the valley.”
A sliver of excitement plucked her curiosity. “Us?”
“We are five.”
“Five women?”
A rapid blink.
“Why are we hiding here, Shaharna?”
“Though we are far from the nearest settlement, the social suppressors look for us occasionally.” Her chin lowered a fraction in stubborn determination. “We do not wish to be found. Their technology doesn’t work here, but they can still use their lenses to see great distances.”
“Social suppressors?” What, like police? “Are they the ones who attacked you? The ones who chased you?”
“Yes.”
“Are you comfortable telling me why?”
Shaharna’s foot rolled to the ball, her gaze fell.
“It’s alright, Shaharna, you don’t have to.”
The other woman’s gaze lifted, met hers. For a moment Shaharna seemed to seek something in her face. Whatever she saw, she stood straight, then rolled her shoulders back.
“They want to detain us because we are a blight.”
A blight?
Anger simmered through her veins, but she kept her features calm.
“How?”
“I encourage women to think for themselves.”
“Is that something they aren’t allowed to do?”
One of Shaharna’s shoulders began to droop, then straightened as though in defiant rejection of the expectations trained into her.
“No. We are treated as second-class citizens. The only education we receive is for the duties we provide for the men, making them and their homes comfortable.” She tucked her head into her shoulder. “And for . . . other purposes.”
I can imagine.
“You’re a brave woman, Shaharna.”
Shaharna’s head jerked back like an Egyptian dancing. “I am?”
“Yes, you are. Choosing to live out here, helping others by going against the duties and responses society demanded you conform to, that takes courage.”
I wonder how large the settlement where she came from is and where it’s located . . .
Shaharna’s head tilted towards her shoulder again.
“I was stealing.”
What? Where?
“Food?”
“Some yes, and clothes.”
Kat eyed the large white coat.
“From the other planet?”
Eyes blinked rapidly. “You are not angry?”
“No. Do you think I should be?”
“It was from near where you found me.” Shaharna plucked the too-large covering. “Is it yours?”
Don’t know where it came from, sweetie, but . . .
“No, it’s yours.”
And I’ll fight anyone who tries to say otherwise.
A smile of startling sweetness curved Shaharna’s lips. Her head straightened.
“So you took some food and clothing. Shaharna, did those men, the social suppressors, did they hurt you?”
The other woman’s shoulders pulled back and she stood straight. “They were going to. I was on my back from stea—”
“Appropriating.”
Again that delightful smile, this time with a hint of mischievousness. “Appropriating food. I found some items that I thought might be useful. I don’t know their purpose, but I’d like to. I like to wear this clothing because . . .”
“Because it’s not from your old life?”
“Yes!” Her head tipped towards her shoulder. “And, I thought, maybe, wearing something from the other place might help me not be noticed there.”
“That was good thinking.”
“It was? I mean, yes, it was.”
Appreciation for the confidence developing in the woman after all she’d no doubt been through infused Kat.
“So you prefer to wear just this?” She pointed at the coat.
That would explain the lack of other clothing.
Shaharna blinked. “And I have another just like it!”
You go, girl.
“So you were on your way back from appropriating more supplies when the suppressors came after you. You ran back to the pillar to escape them?”
“No! I would never reveal that to them. I was near the pillar when I heard Andvara scream. She’d gone to collect the ripe emela berries in the rocks. She wouldn’t have known the suppressors were there because she can’t hear her.”
Can’t hear her?
“I shouldn’t have let her go when I wasn’t here. The three suppressors were . . .” Shaharna’s gaze dropped to the ground, her nose fringe quivered. “Two of them were holding her and the other . . .”
“I understand, Shaharna. What did you do?”
“I threw the tools and then my boots at them.”
Well done, you!
“And then?”
Shaharna’s head tilted to the side. She lifted her gaze, an appeal for understanding shimmered in the seal-brown depths. “I didn’t know what to do then, all I wanted was for them to stop. They did, and came after me. She told me to run to the pillar and wait until they approached. The bright light flashed as it always does, and took us all to the other place.”
This lot aren’t police, they’re bloody SS.
“How did you escape the suppressors at the other place?”
“They were still, but moaning, like they were sleeping with bad dreams. I didn’t want them to be caught in the light again and brought back here, so I ran, hoping they would leave the area so I could return and . . .” Her head drooped towards a shoulder.
“Strand them in the other place?” Guilt shadowed Shaharna’s glistening, brown eyes. “You did all right, Shaharna. Don’t be ashamed.”
“But they could have hurt you, or someone else.”
Three unarmed Bluthen? Not on that planet.
“Did you know the other place was a different planet?”
“Not at first, though the stars are different, and so is the time of day, but we aren’t taught such things. She, the words told me, told me so much. Everything is so new and exciting!”
She? As in ‘her?’
“The words?”
Shaharna’s head tipped to one side and her gaze dropped.
“I hear words that no one else can. The others think . . . They don’t mention it, but they do listen when I tell them of the things she has shared with me.”
I guess admitting you can hear voices in your head is a Universally poor idea.
“Cheer up, Shaharna, you’re not the only one.”
Brown eyes bright with hope gazed at her. “You’ve heard her?”
“I’ve heard something. Are you the only one who goes on these expeditions?”
A frown creased Shaharna’s nose. “Mostly. Sometimes one of the others comes with me, but I am the only one who can make the pillar work.”
Oh?
“The other women, they are Bluthen, like you?”
“Yes. I have glimpsed other . . . species, yes, species on the other planet. She told me about other species. She says you and I are descendants.”
Kat’s heart tripped a double thump. WHAT? Wait. We’re what?
“There’s a Masterfr—”
“Kathryn!”
I know that bellow.
Joy swirled, lit her entire being. Okay, so they had some issues to work through, and he owed her an apology, but damn, she really could always count on him.
Shaharna gasped. “Someone is here! Why did she not tell me?” Panic edged her tone. “Have I done something wrong? Displeased her?”
Kat curved an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. The petite form stiffened.
Poor thing’s probably not used to physical affection or assurance.
“Calm down, Shaharna, it’s alright, and I doubt She is upset with you.” She lifted her head and addressed the air around them. “Are you?”
Alien, Awakening (Alien, Mine Series Book 2) Page 24