“Unfortunately, yes, it was. Frost materialized me out of there before it blew up.”
“Frost? What is she doing here?”
Halah shook her head. “Who the hell knows for sure? You can’t believe anything she says or anything Daegal says. I think they’re both power-hungry, unstable assholes who deserve whatever we can bring down on their heads.”
“Brianna and Sam left the facility before it was attacked,” Leila told her. “I don’t know where they are. My vid-cell isn’t working.”
“Did Torque organize the local warriors?”
“No. The substation was abandoned. The station head made his way here though. He, along with our Earth contacts, are also still in the facility.”
“Shit.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Let me think.”
Leila watched Halah as she looked toward the facility. Even if they could get inside and locate the others, they’d never be able to get back out. Without communications they were pretty much screwed because they had no way to coordinate anything.
Halah voiced the exact same concerns. “The Egesa took out communications. But I’m sure the humans are working to restore it, just like Xylon is working to restore ours. Still, without knowing where anyone is, our options are limited.”
“What if the Egesa find the others and transport them up to Daegal? They’ll be killed. We have to try to get them out of there before they’re discovered.”
“Agreed. But they might already be gone, Leila. It’ll be near impossible to—”
“Look!” Leila pointed toward the main gate of the facility. “The Egesa are bringing some people out.” She studied each face, hoping to see someone familiar. “I don’t see them.”
“Me either.”
The Egesa shackled the humans and loaded them onto a transport vehicle. Several soldiers stayed behind and manned the gate, while the others drove the humans off. Probably to some holding camp. Leila sat down behind the formation of rocks.
Halah sat beside her. She grabbed her vid-cell and fiddled with the controls. “Nothing. Maybe we should try to make it to the substation. They’ll have current comm devices. We can check if Xylon’s grid is back up.”
“Not if they took their equipment with them when they fled. Besides, do you even know where the substation is?”
“I remember from when Brianna called it up on the computer. It’s a bit far to get to on foot.” She again looked toward the facility. “I don’t feel good about leaving this place though. If the others are brought out, we’d have a chance to free them. If I draw you a map, do you think you could make it to the substation by yourself?”
“I don’t think we should separate. We’re stronger together.”
“I can move faster and easier on my own. If I have to worry about you, it’s going to change my strategy.”
“So, don’t worry about me. I’m not going to slow you down. I can take care of myself.” When Halah frowned, she continued, “If you were here on your own and needed to get into the facility, what would you do?”
“Well hell, Leila. That’s easy. I’d just walk up to the gate and tell them to let me in.”
Chapter Ten
Deep Space
Braden sat staring out the front portal of the orbiter. Despite the gravity of the situation, he was still able to appreciate the beauty and vastness of space. It held a calming silence that he always found comforting during stressful times.
Erik sat quietly by his side. They hadn’t heard any additional news about Kam yet and still had no idea where the man had gone. Maybe Alexa’s death had affected him more than any of them had realized. If not for his own responsibilities in leading this mission, he might have disappeared also. Though he found it hard to believe that Kam would abandon Halah and Laszlo—while he was so ill—without a word of explanation. Something was going on. He’d bet his last credit on it.
When Erik grunted, he glanced to the side. The man hadn’t said much since he’d revealed that the Egesa had captured Leila. He’d been continuously checking on the comm grid, which was almost completely restored now. If Earth could hold out just a little while longer, then they’d have full communications and reinforcements there to help.
Maybe he could find the rest of his family. He needed to connect with his brother and especially his twin sister. But mostly, he needed to know that Daegal was dead—not a prisoner who would still be able to live out his lifetime at a penal facility or be in a position where he might someday escape to torture and kill more innocents. Dead.
“Got it!” Erik’s voice rose in excitement. “The grid is back.”
Braden’s heart leapt in his chest. Communication was vital for the success of this mission. “Contact Torque via vid-cell. I’ll contact the other squadrons that left ahead of us. They should be approaching Earth’s orbit about now, if they’re not already there.” His mind raced. He wished that Erik had taken his own ship. Being together limited his options. He suspected Erik had known that and had wanted to make certain that he didn’t try some outlandish suicide mission.
As such, it would be a lot harder to destroy Daegal’s mother ship. He couldn’t ram the orbiter into its power center as he’d planned, which would have blown their internal controls. Not with Erik aboard. He puffed out a breath of frustration. It would have been an honorable way to go—sacrificing his life for the life of his people. Fate apparently had other plans for him.
Daegal’s sting fighters wouldn’t be a problem. Xylon’s fighters could take those out. Daegal’s mother ship was much more powerful and would be hard to destroy without ramming their engineering section or utilizing the fire power of a Mag10-orbiter. None of those more powerful ships remaining in the fleet had been functional yet upon their departure from the Ice Moon.
Working together, their FC-orbiter squadrons might be able to concentrate enough firepower to at least disable Daegal until some warriors could materialize over and take control. Then he’d be able to terminate Daegal’s life with his own hands. That held appeal. But they really wouldn’t know exactly what they were facing until they got to Earth and assessed the situation.
* * * * *
Underground, Planet Xylon
Alexa sat in the dark, cradling her babies as best as she could. She’d never felt so alone. She was as far back in the cave as she could go and behind a small rock wall to conceal their presence.
When she’d heard the Def’mal drag off Tara, she’d hidden their supplies and squeezed through a small opening in the back of the cave into another chamber. She’d covered her tracks the best she could. The opening would be too small for a Def’mal to get through. It had almost been too small for her. Since then, she’d been praying that Pitch and Josella would return. The longer she waited, the more her hope faded. “What do I do if no one comes back?” she whispered to her son.
He grabbed a hold of her finger and the contact calmed her. Still, she couldn’t sit here indefinitely. She smiled down at her girls as each one slept. So at peace. She felt grateful that all three of her children had stayed relatively quiet throughout the entire ordeal.
Falling pebbles from the rock walls drew her attention. Every little noise caused her to jump and her heart to beat wildly. “Where are you, Braden? I know you must be searching for us.” She tried to feel for him through their connection, but it rarely worked and now was no different.
Her son squeezed her finger tighter than she thought should be possible. That’s when she heard it, or maybe she felt it. A presence nearby. She placed her babies behind her, grabbed a light stick and a large rock. If anyone somehow made it through the opening and came up on them, she would switch the light on high, blind them, then bash them in the head with the rock and hopefully knock them out.
If that didn’t work, she still had the pain inducer that Erik had given her. It wasn’t an effective weapon when trapped as she was. She couldn’t zap anyone then run away while they were momentarily stunned. Not with the bab
ies. Even at full power, it wouldn’t be able to down a Def’mal completely. The males were too big. But it was better than nothing. She’d do whatever she had to in order to save her babies.
“Alexa?” a voice in the darkness whispered.
She hesitated a moment, identifying the voice. “Josella?” she whispered back, getting to her feet.
“Yeah, where are you?”
“Back here.” Alexa engaged the light stick but kept it on low. Then she saw Josella. She looked behind the woman. “Where’s Pitch?” She squeezed through the opening.
“Where’s Tara?” Josella asked at the same time.
“The Def’mal captured her. Pitch?”
“The blow to his head did something to him. He got dizzy and almost passed out, so we had to stop to rest. The Def’mal found us and he told me to run. I didn’t want to but…” She visibly held back her tears. “I don’t know what happened to him.”
“How’d you find your way back here?”
“After surviving on the Sand Moon, you learn to pay attention to where you’re going and where you’ve been, or you end up dead. We have to find him.”
“And Tara too.”
“Yes.”
Alexa had no idea how they were supposed to do that with the babies in tow. “Do you have a plan? What should we do?”
“We’ll do a section-by-section search, starting from where they came across me and Pitch. It’s the best way.”
“What about the triplets?”
“They’d only have to be alone for short periods of time. We can look while they sleep.”
Alexa stared at Josella stunned. If it were a choice of searching for their comrades or staying with her children to keep them safe, it wasn’t even a contest. “Not happening, Josella. I’m not leaving them alone. Not even for a minute.”
“Alexa—”
“No.”
Josella frowned then sighed. “Fine. I’ll do the search. But without a lookout, it’s going to be a lot harder and slower going. And if I’m captured, you’ll be alone.”
“It’s a chance that will have to be taken. My babies are, and always will be, my first priority.”
“All right.” The look of frustration on Josella’s face gradually eased. “Let me draw out a map in the dirt of where I’ll be searching. If I don’t come back from a specific section, then you’ll know that Def’mal were in that area and found me. I’ll be useless to help you from then on out. Stay clear of that section.”
Alexa nodded. She hated to put all the work on Josella, but she had the skills to do it and there was really no other choices in the matter. If the young woman did get caught though, then she would be on her own as Josella had said. What would she do then? “I have a pain inducer. Do you want to take it?” She felt better with the weapon in tow but she also felt that she needed to offer it to the woman, given what she was about to do.
Josella stared at her a moment. Then her eyes softened. “No. You keep it. I’m used to surviving without.”
* * * * *
Nav-Control Ship FSMF-36, Earth’s Orbit
Frost stood with her second-in-command. Anxious to hear his news, she prompted him instead of waiting for his report, “Did Daegal agree to the meeting?” If she could get him into position, then she could finally eliminate him, plunge his followers into fear and take over as planned.
“Yes. Actually, it was a bit odd. His representative contacted us, through our private ship-to-ship channel here, about a meeting right before we contacted them?”
“What?” Her senses went on alert. “How’d he know what channel to use? We’re still cloaked and electro-shielded, aren’t we?”
“Yes, but our other ships, the ones disguised as supply vessels, are visible. Somehow, he must have figured out the comm-link.”
“My ass. Someone tipped him off.” And she thought she’d eliminated all his spies before they’d been able to transmit any data back about the rest of her fleet.
“Perhaps. But he wants a meeting, so it doesn’t really change things or hurt us, does it? If he’d wanted us destroyed, he would have already attacked.”
Of course it hurts us, she thought to herself. That meant there was someone under her that she couldn’t trust—someone she’d missed who’d given Daegal specifics about her fighter ships. And if he hadn’t attacked yet, it only meant that he thought he had the upper hand. She’d have to proceed very carefully from here on out. She needed more details but she needed other information too before she finalized what she wanted to do. “What about those explosions on the planet where you said that Halah set her materialization coordinates?”
“In and around Earth’s top tracking facility. The Egesa have surrounded and infiltrated the place. They obviously want something or someone who is inside. Also, something interesting…”
“What?”
“I’ve received reports of Egesa in ground fights with the human military who are now dying at an accelerated rate. Not from their wounds but from something else.”
“Like what?”
“Unknown at this time. Also, we can’t access this section of Earth’s orbit.” He pointed to the screen in front of them. “We continually get collision warnings. There has to be several cloaked ships here.”
“Xylons?”
“Again, unknown at this time.”
“All right. Where are we meeting Daegal?”
“I was told that he will only meet on his ship. He won’t materialize down to the planet.”
Frost began to pace. She didn’t like the feel of this. Xylon had been betrayed. She had been betrayed. Daegal was obviously worried about being betrayed. Rumors abounded about double and triple spies everywhere. If she met him on his ship, it would be like giving her life away. “Certainly he knows I won’t agree to that.”
“His representative said that they have the firepower. If you won’t meet and forge an agreement, he’ll consider you the enemy. If you get in his way, he’ll blow our ships out of orbit.”
“Forge an agreement? Sounds to me like he expects a surrender.”
“We may not have a choice.”
Her eyes narrowed. “There’s always a choice.”
A soldier rushed into the room. He paused, but looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.
“What is it?” she asked, irritation made her spine hurt.
“Xylon’s grid has been restored. We haven’t been able to pick up their messages yet but we’ve registered the power source. We need a warm thumbprint from you to access their channels.”
Maybe those cloaked ships out there were Xylon fighters after all, waiting for reinforcements. She wouldn’t put it past the warriors to have a hidden squadron nearby. Luckily, she was still able to access a small subset of their systems. She placed her thumb on the handheld tablet her soldier had with him. “Keep me posted.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The soldier rushed back out.
“What do you want to do about Daegal?” her second in charge asked.
“Delay the response as much as possible. We’ll combine our power with Xylon’s to defeat Daegal and the Egesa.”
“You’re siding with the warriors? Why?”
“Only long enough to get Daegal out of the way. Once that’s done, the Egesa will need a new leader.” Certainly she could outmuscle any Egesa commander who got in her way. She had a large following already. The rest would follow once she promised them riches and the destruction of their enemies.
“You?”
“Me.”
“So this truly was about more than just revenge against Daegal?”
“Revenge is a poor motivator…after a while. Power lasts forever.”
“Xylon will never allow it.”
“They’ll allow it if they don’t know about it. Until it’s too late to do anything.” Halah could prove a problem though, because the woman had already figured out her plans. But, with luck, she wouldn’t be able to relate those plans to anyone in time for the warriors to stop her. She’d
hoped to attain her power through control of Braden’s offspring. That plan had failed. Controlling the Egesa would not gain her as much power but it was a start. And once Kam was by her side…
“Monitor all outgoing messages. I want any remaining spies caught and executed. As soon as Xylon fighters are detected in orbit, cloak our ships that are disguised as supply vessels. Let Daegal think we fled when we detected the incoming squadrons. He’ll then be too busy fighting the Xylons to spend energy looking for us. From the back, when he least expects it, we’ll cut off his escape route and ensure his destruction.”
“As you wish.”
* * * * *
Planet Earth, State of Colorado, U.S.A.
Underground Tracking Facility
Torque entered one of the private quarters in the armory section. He’d been told that Jaeda had come back here to rest. He had a suspicion that she’d actually come back here for privacy to contact her people.
She stood up from a small desk as he entered. “Torque? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?”
“A fucking glitch. Several of the circuits on the laser blew while we were adjusting the settings and they need to be replaced. The men are working on it.”
“How long?”
“An hour maybe. Maybe longer. What are you up to?”
“Trying to keep my sanity. I don’t like all this sitting around. I feel like I need to be doing something.”
“You and me both.” He grinned. “Wanna fuck?”
A look of surprise filled her eyes, but then a small smile graced her face. “Actually…” She slowly began to sashay toward him.
“I was kidding.” He cocked an eyebrow and looked down at her swaying hips. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Why not? We have time.”
“But not a lot of privacy.”
“Since when does that bother a Xylon?”
He growled low in his throat. She was right about that. But he was working with humans now. For them to listen to him, they had to respect him. Fucking her, while they had to endure without, could strain the team.
Depths Of Desire XW5 Page 21