Carmen looked around her. Rotnim’s body still lay motionless where he’d fallen. “What about us? What will happen to us?”
He peered into her eyes. “What would you like to happen to you?”
“Well, of course we’d like to go home,” she replied. “We can’t stay here.”
Renier shook his shaggy head. “I’m afraid that is impossible. You can’t leave Angondra.”
“Why not?” she asked. “We don’t belong here.”
“We don’t have any vehicle that can transport you through space,” he told her. “We keep to our own planet, so you have no way of getting off this world.”
She stared at him. “But how is that possible? The Romarie traveled here. You must have some way of traveling....”
He shrugged. “My people used to have space vehicles, but not anymore. We gave them up when we realized traveling through space meant dealing with species like the Romarie. We prefer to stay here, where we can be at relative peace with each other.”
Carmen’s shoulders sagged. “This can’t be happening. We can’t be stuck here, not after everything we’ve been through.”
He studied her. “Why don’t you come back to Felsite territory with me? You might decide you like it there.”
She shook her head. “There must be a way to get back to Earth.”
He paused. Then he took hold of her arm and drew her toward the open door of the hall. The light shining through from outside brought her out of her despair. “What about Aria?”
He cast a glance at her friend. “She can come, too.”
“How can we find the other women?” Carmen asked.
He looked away. “One problem at a time. You need somewhere to go, and I’m taking you with me. I’ll protect you and make sure you get everything you need.”
Carmen’s spirits faltered. She had no more will to resist. She’s accomplished her goal to free her friends from the Romarie, only to discover they were trapped in a different kind of prison, a much more impenetrable prison than the one they just left. At least on board the Romarie’s space vessel, they had some chance to get back to Earth. Now Carmen watched that hope slip away, never to return. How could she bear the agony of that?
She couldn’t stand to look at Aria. How could she face these women when she’d failed them so miserably? She let Renier lead her out of the hall and sit her down somewhere. She didn’t notice anything around her until she started moving.
That’s when she noticed the trees and mountains and rivers moving past her. She was sitting on a flat palanquin rolling over the ground, but Carmen couldn’t see any mechanism to make it move. A towering sky stretched up to heaven, and three bright moons hung among the clouds. A fresh breeze blew into Carmen’s face and revived her.
“What is this place?” she asked Renier.
“I told you. This is Ursidrean territory.” He pointed at the mountains. “They have their caves up there, and they spend the winters sealed up inside them. They only come out in spring, but they raise their young in their caves before they come out to hunt.”
Carmen cocked her head. “They sound like bears. Now that I think of it, they sort of look like bears, too.”
Renier kept his eyes facing front. “I don’t know what bears are, but the Ursidreans are Angondrans like the rest of us, even if they have some strange ways.”
“All the factions must seem strange to one another,” she remarked. “The Aqinas seem the strangest of all, with their webbed feet.”
“They aren’t as strange as the Avitras,” he replied. “The Avitras live in trees, and they chatter constantly to each other about everything you can imagine. They know everything there is to know about everyone on this planet. Collecting information is their pride and joy. We don’t have very many rules on this planet, but the ones we have come from the Avitras. As a matter of fact, they probably know where your friends are at this moment.”
Carmen whirled around. “Really? Can’t we go and ask them? I don’t think I’ll be able to rest until I know they’re safe.”
“They are safe,” he replied. “You can take my word on that. No one on Angondra would harm your friends. We all understand what happened to you and how the Romarie abducted you from your home. No Angondran will do anything to any of you. We will do everything in our power to help you and make you comfortable here, even though we can’t help you leave.”
Carmen blinked back tears. “There must be something we can do.”
“Wherever your friends are,” he went on, “they are as safe as you are. If they haven’t gone to the Felsite, they will be with one of the other factions who will take them in and look after them. You can take my word on that.”
Carmen studied him. “I do take your word on that.”
He cast a quick glance at her before turning his gaze in front of them again. “Good. You can trust me.”
Carmen didn’t say anything. She never doubted for a second that she could trust him. She trusted him more than anyone she ever met in her life, and she’d known him less than an hour. Why did his bulky presence imbue her with such a deep, abiding sense of security? He’d saved her life back at the hall, and he was taking her home to his people to give her a place on this planet. What more could she ask from anyone?
She glanced down at the ground passing under their palanquin. “How does this vehicle move over the ground? I can’t see any mechanism or motor to make it move.”
He chuckled. “These is no mechanism or motor. It’s drawn by Reticlians.”
“What are they?” she asked.
He pointed down to the ground. “Take a look.”
She bent farther over the side, but still didn’t see anything. Renier laughed. “Here. I’ll show you.”
He took hold of her with his powerful hands and slung her over his knee. He dangled her headfirst over the side of the palanquin, but she never experienced a hint of fear. He’d given her his word he would protect and care for her, and she took him at his word. Why would he harm her now?
When her head hung over the side, she noticed something moving under the palanquin. A dozen enormous snails help up the platform of the carriage on their shells, and they slithered over the ground at an incredible speed. Their oily bodies ran over fallen logs and sharp stones, but they never stopped. They carried the palanquin faster than a car.
He pulled her back and set her down in her place.
“Do you have many creatures like this on your planet?” she asked.
He frowned. “Like what?”
“Like those snails,” Carmen replied.
“We have thousands of creatures of every kind on this planet,” he replied. “It’s a beautiful planet with wonderful diversity. The five factions you saw at the gathering hall are just one species.”
She gazed out at the landscape rolling by. “I guess it’s going to take me a while to get used to being on a different planet. I’ve never been anywhere but Earth.”
“I’ve never been off this planet, either,” he replied. “None of us has.”
They lapsed into silence. They passed through the mountains into rolling prairies of grass and wildflowers and on past low river bottoms and stands of waving trees. They crossed high cliffs overlooking thundering seas. “This is Aqinas territory,” Renier told her.
Carmen perked up. “Where do they live?”
“Over there.” He pointed to a series of rock pools jutting out into the sea. “That’s their stronghold.”
“How can they live there?” Carmen asked. “I don’t see anything but a bunch of rocky holes.”
“They live in the water, but they breathe the air,” he explained. “They manage all water life on the planet and they can communicate using any body of water. They keep to themselves, and they stay neutral in any disputes between the other factions. You have to be careful around them, though. They’ll trick you with their words if they can. And over there is the Avitras territory.”
Carm
en followed his arm toward tall black mountains on their other side. Black forests covered them from bottom to top, but even at that distance, the mountains vibrated with hidden life. Carmen cradled her forehead in her hand. “I can’t think about this anymore.”
“You don’t have to,” he replied. “We’re entering Felsite territory.”
The palanquin crossed the cliffs and wound through a treacherous gorge of steep rock. It wound hour after hour through the most inhospitable countryside, beyond where Carmen would imagine any living creature could survive. In the end, sheer exhaustion forced her to close her eyes and lie back on the palanquin. She couldn’t look at this strange planet anymore. She couldn’t accept that she would probably spend the rest of her life here. She couldn’t let that happen.
She fell into a fevered sleep, and when she opened her eyes, darkness surrounded them. She strained her eyes, but could catch no glimmer of light besides the silent, frozen stars above her. Earth was out there somewhere, suspended just beyond her reach.
She used to gaze up at the moon from her bedroom window. It hung suspended in another dimension. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to leave Earth and look back on it from space. Now her own home planet hung there, out of reach.
The palanquin still moved under her, but she could see nothing of the landscape around her. She dared not raise her voice above a whisper. “Where are we?”
To her surprise, Aria answered. “He said we were almost there.”
Carmen spun around. “Aria! Are you all right?”
A pregnant pause filled the air. “I guess we’re going somewhere, but I don’t know where.”
Carmen leaned toward her. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before. I should have made sure you were okay after what happened at the gathering hall.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me.” Aria’s soft drawl vibrated against Carmen’s ear. It warmed her heart to hear a human voice for a change. “You saved my life back there. I should have thanked you sooner.”
Carmen put out her hand and found Aria’s velvetty soft arm. “I’m just glad we got you away from the Romarie in time. I couldn’t live with myself if they took you away with them.”
“You could have escaped with the others,” Aria went on, “but you came back for me. You aren’t the person I thought you were. I thought you were another brainless cop who didn’t care about the people in the street. I thought you blew into our neighborhood with a sound and fury, but I didn’t think you were any account. I’m sorry for that. I hope someday I can pay you back for rescuing me.”
“Please don’t apologize, Aria,” Carmen exclaimed. “I only wish there was something I could have done to stop us from getting into this situation. I’m supposed to protect people from situations like this, but I couldn’t stop it. I was as helpless as you were...” Her words stuck in her throat.
Aria squeezed her hand. “You did it. You’re the one who got us away from the Romarie. I didn’t think you would. I thought you were full of hot air. I thought Penelope Ann would be the one to save us, not some no-account cop. But you did it. You picked up that gun and fought to free us when no one else would, and you came back for me while Penelope Ann and Marissa ran away. I don’t know how to thank you for that, but I swear to you I’ll be your friend as long as I live. You can count on me, and I’ll never let you down.”
They clutched at each other in the silent dark. Chirps and squeaks echoed out of the night on all sides, but they didn’t speak or move. They could be the last human beings for a million light years in any direction, but at least they were together.
After a long pause, Aria spoke again. “I heard Marissa telling you her story. I heard her tell you I had a story like hers, but I want you to know that’s not true. I have a family back home.”
Carmen cocked her head. “What did she mean?”
“I’ve hated cops all my life,” Aria told her. “That’s why I hated you from the first moment I met you. You should understand why. I owe you that much.”
Carmen swallowed. “Okay. I’ll listen if you want to tell me.”
“My dad worked hard all his life to give us kids the best,” Aria explained. “We lived in a bad neighborhood, but him and my mom worked their fingers to the bone to make sure we never went without. We had family dinners every night, and they used to read to us and help us with our homework. We had a good life.”
“That’s wonderful, Aria,” Carmen explained.
“Not so wonderful,” Aria countered. “When I was about ten, the cops stormed our apartment and tore the place apart. They kicked in the door at five o’clock in the morning and threw all of us out of bed. My dad stood up to them and demanded to know what it was all about and where was their warrant and all that, but they grabbed him and beat him down right in front of us kids. My mom was screaming and trying to get to him, and one cop held her back. All us kids were holding onto each other on the bed and crying and watching them beat our dad.”
Carmen choked back sobs. “I’m so sorry, Aria.”
Aria paid no attention to her. She spoke out into the night, to something or someone beyond sight. “They beat him until he didn’t move anymore, and then they destroyed the apartment. They tore it to shreds. They ripped open all the pillows and cushions on the couch, and they tossed everything out of the closets and the fridge. They left the place a disaster zone.”
“But why?” Carmen asked. “Why would they do that to innocent people?”
“After they left,” Aria told her, “we took my dad to the hospital. He died of his injuries two days later. Then we got a letter from the police department saying they’d raided the wrong apartment. They got a tip that some dangerous drug dealers were holed up in an apartment down the hall from us, in apartment number 34. They accidentally raided apartment number 43 by mistake.”
Carmen groaned and bowed her head to her chest.
“They apologized for their mistake and vowed to do better in the future.” Aria snorted under her breath. “So that’s why I didn’t think much of you when I first met you. I just thought you ought to know.”
Carmen fought back her sobs. She crushed Aria’s hand in her grip. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Aria. I joined the police department to help people. I swear I never meant to do anything to hurt anybody.”
“You didn’t,” Aria replied.
Carmen shook her head. “I didn’t listen when Penelope Ann told me about those missing women. I should have taken her report seriously. I thought the department was right to ignore their disappearance, since they were dopers and hookers and penniless runaways. I shouldn’t have been so heartless. I’m sorry. I should have cared as much about them as anybody else, and now I’m one of them, and no one will care about my disappearance, either. No one will investigate the Romarie abducting us from the neighborhood in broad daylight.”
Chapter 8
“Where do you think he’s taking us?” Aria asked.
“He said he was taking us back to his people,” Carmen replied, “back to Felsite territory. I don’t know what to expect, but he said we don’t have anything to fear from any of the Angondrans, and I believe him. Don’t ask me why, but I trust him. I trust him with my life.”
Aria nodded. “I trust him, too, and not just because he saved our lives. There’s something about him that makes me feel safe, you know?”
Carmen nodded. How well she knew. “I wonder how far we have to go.”
Just then, Renier sat up from the palanquin next to them. He let out a great yawn that silenced the chirping creatures in the night around them and he scratched his hairy head. “Here we are.”
Carmen and Aria whirled around. “Where?”
He pointed through the trees, and they noticed lights gleaming in the distance. The palanquin pulled up in front of a high slope, and yellow lights glowed from its surface. They lit up the darkness and cast a welcoming glow on the travelers. Renier jumped down from the palanquin and gave Ca
rmen his hand.
As soon as Carmen and Aria stood on solid ground, the snails slithered out from under the palanquin. The platform sank to the ground, and the snails disappeared into the dark. The lamplight shone on their wet trails. A dozen Felsite came out of the hillside to greet them. The males had shaggy manes of hair around their heads like Renier’s. The females had only short hair running back along their faces from their flat noses and behind their small ears.
They all started talking at once, and Renier told the story over and over of the battle to free these women from the Romarie. He told them two other Earth women were on the planet somewhere, and the Angondrans would help them and give them what they needed. The Felsite nodded their agreement. Then they turned their attention to the women.
Renier laid his hand on Carmen’s shoulder. “This is Carmen. She is a very powerful warrior. She attacked the Romarie to rescue her friend here, and she helped her other friends escape in the middle of the battle.”
The Felsite stared at her with wide eyes and murmured their approval.
“Now we’ll go inside and have something to eat and a nice long sleep,” Renier announced. “We’ve traveled long and far, and we’re all tired.”
The crowd broke up with much bubbling conversation, and the story of the battle spread through the night. Renier waved toward the hill. “If you follow me, I’ll take you to my home.”
Carmen turned her attention to the hill and noticed it was actually made up of a warren of buildings all stacked on top of each other like a giant apartment complex. It sloped back against an even higher mountain, and hundreds of lamps and candles burned in every window overlooking the broad plain in front of it.
Renier guided the two women up a flight of steps and in through a heavy stone door to a chamber lined with gleaming flat stone and polished wood. Carmen stared at the room. “Did you build this place?”
Renier’s head whipped around. “Me? No, I didn’t build it.”
“I meant the Felsite,” Carmen replied. “Did the Felsite build this....this.....?”
Damen (Dragons of Kratak Book 2) Page 17