by KD Jones
Corey figured that if they went further below in the tunnels those heat signatures would be harder to pick up. “Good, let me know which way they’re going and we’ll try to figure out their intended destination in the tunnels and cut them off. Commander Estro said that Senior Commander Drake Bond is already visiting at the next tribe over and wants to join us in the search.”
Sr. Commander Bond had come to Earth to find out why Commander Estro was spending so much time on Earth with the fleet. The warriors he had trained with whispered their suspicions that Bond was supposed to remove Estro from his command, but that hadn’t happened, not yet. Bond primarily seemed to be working with Estro to speed up the process for the Drastans departure from Earth. His presence was something they all had to accept and deal with until his true intent was revealed. Corey didn’t care about any of the Drastan politics. He was loyal to Commander Estro but if this Sr. Commander Bond could help find Nix, that’s what mattered the most to him. He’d accept help from anybody if they could bring Nix back to him.
Warrior Davens spoke into his communicator, directing his warriors on the search. When he finished, he turned back to Corey. “There’s no blood or signs of a struggle. The fact that we haven’t found a body yet should be good news.”
Corey walked around the locker room, shaking his head. “If the leader of the resistance is behind this, and he killed her he would have placed her body where we would have found it. Since we haven’t found a body that means either it may not be the head of the resistance behind this or they could be holding her for ransome at a later time.” Corey didn’t want to think of the unmentioned alternative. He just wouldn’t go there.
“What type of warrior is Lt. Saber?”
“Nix is strong, smart, and one of the best warriors I have ever had the pleasure of training with. Her best and worst asset is her strong will.”
“How is being strong her worst asset?”
“She will challenge the ones that took her and that will put her in more danger.”
“You don’t have any idea who the leader of the resistance is?” Warrior Davens asked.
“Me and my fellow trainees on the command ship worked up a profile on the resistance leader to try to figure out who he was and what motivated him. He had taken on different identities to keep anyone from finding him so the profile was pretty much all we had to work with. The profile persona prided himself on being strong and brilliant. He will find it thrilling and powerful to be able to break someone like Nix. He’ll want to conquer her and to try to own her.”
Davens stared at Corey with horrified understanding. “Every minute that she is in his clutches means that there’s less chance of her getting out of this unharmed. From what you told me about her, she may risk her own life to get away from him.”
Corey nodded. “Nix will collect intel then look for a way to escape. She would fight to the death rather than submit. She’ll take out as many as she can but she is outnumbered or she would have escaped by now.”
“If she is harmed, it will be an act of war. Commander Estro will not let that stand,” Warrior Davens growled out.
“I know. The resistance leader doesn’t care anymore that his actions could cause the very thing he fears the most—Drastans taking control of Earth.”
“He is completely irrational! That’s never been our intention,” Warrior Davens insisted.
“Obviously it doesn’t matter to him or his followers. Tell me, if this is not resolved quickly and Nix doesn’t survive, what will happen besides an all-out Drastan/human war?” When Davens refused to answer, Corey answered for him.
“I’ll tell you what will happen. My people won’t stand a chance against Drastan weapons or your well-trained warriors. You already outnumber us. Any war would mean many human deaths and it would severely cripple our military force. On top of all that, Commander Estro will have no choice but to take control of our planet in an attempt to subdue any other resistance. My people would no longer be in control of their own destinies and will become even more dependent on Drastan good will. Humans will resent the Drastans even more than they do. More skirmishes would arise causing more Drastan control.”
The silence was telling. Thinking about all the ways this incident could send Earth and Drastan relations spiralling out of control ultimately meant nothing to Corey, though. When it came down to it, the only thing that he cared about was getting Nix back safe and sound. At some point, somehow, he had fallen in love with her, and now it was clear, if something happened to her, it would destroy him. This resistance leader better hope someone else found him before Corey, because he was going to end him for daring to even look at her, let alone touch her.
His communicator beeped he tapped it to answer. “This is Warrior Nash.”
“What’s happening with the search?” Commander Estro demanded.
“We’ve found heat signatures and are using those to track them. Warrior Davens believes we’re only about twenty or thirty minutes behind them.”
“Notify Sr. Commander Bond, he’s on his way to join your search. Also, Quinn and Liam will be joining you as well.”
“I’m not sure it’s necessary to have them come down. It will draw more attention to the situation.”
“Nash, this isn’t a search for just any of my warriors. Nix is a part of my family. I would be there myself, but I have issues to deal with on board that I can’t get out of it at this time. I’m sending those who feel the same way about Nix as I do. Keep me updated.”
“I hope to have good news for you soon, Commander.”
“Have you seen signs of a struggle or torture?”
“Not yet sir.”
“There’s no body.” Commander Estro stated rather than ask. Corey answered him anyway.
“No.”
“I know Nix. She will put up a fight to escape, even if it means she is killed in the attempt to flee.”
“I know.”
“I will kill him!” Commander Estro growled out making their connection crackle.
“Not if I get to him first. The moment he took her, he signed his own death warrant, and I plan to deal that punishment out myself,” Corey swore.
“Keep me updated and tell her that we want her home. No matter what happens, she needs to come home to us.”
“I’ll tell her when I find her.” Corey ended the communication with frustration. He refused to even consider that he wouldn’t find her. He had to.
He remembered finding Maggie after she had been attacked. It was horrific. Maggie had only been fifteen, so young and spunky. It never should have happened.
Corey had thought that he had never felt more helpless in all his life than when Maggie had been attacked… until now. It felt like he was reliving that time again; another woman he loved had been taken and could be suffering the same fate as Maggie. That was unacceptable. All he wanted to do was find her and protect her.
When Warrior Davens left him alone to go speak with some of his warriors, Corey kicked the nearest locker as hard as he could, anger and frustration eating at him. He had to keep it together. It wouldn’t help Nix if he lost it and went crazy destroying everything in sight. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He repeated the action until his heart rate slowed and he felt calmer.
A few minutes later his communicator beeped, he hit the button to answer. “This is Warrior Nash.”
“We’ve picked up their trail traveling east,” Warrior Davens reported off.
“Very good, I’m on my way. Make sure to have someone notify Sr. Commander Bond as soon as he arrives.”
“Yes sir.”
Corey looked around once more before whispering out loud, “I’m going to find you, honey, just hang in there. Please stay alive, no matter what you have to do. Stay alive for me.”
Chapter 15
Nix was going to kill Frazier if he touched her one more time. Her hands were raw from struggling against the bindings, but she almost had one hand free. She couldn’t wait to finally fre
e them both so that she could make a run for it. Frazier had one of his men loosen the bindings on her feet just enough so that she could walk, but not enough to run without tripping and falling. She needed to wait for the perfect moment to escape, pretending in the meantime to be cowed by the human males. They seemed to have fallen for her act because they weren’t walking as close to her as they had at the beginning. They felt confident that with her bindings on her feet and hands and the rope tied around her neck that she wasn’t going to be going anywhere.
The whole time she listened, storing every ounce of information from names to locations in her memory. Frazier walked next to her, holding the rope tied around her neck and pulling her like a pet. Every few minutes, he would reach out to touch her in some small way. It might be her elbow, her back and he seemed to really like running her hair between his fingers, admiring its softness. She had been tolerating those touches because when he was paying attention to her, he had a tendency to talk—a lot.
He told her how he had taken on the identity of Frazier to protect his true identity. She played along by asking him questions about himself and he seemed pleased by her interest in him, answering her freely. Of course, this also meant that Frazier wasn’t afraid of telling her stuff because he wasn’t planning on letting her go. She couldn’t dwell on that thought, though; she needed to get information and then find a way to escape.
“Why the name Frazier?” she asked him.
“Happy accident, I guess you could say. I first took the identity from one of the dome soldiers. I was able to come and go freely in the dome and learned how things were run, and then I made my way through the tunnels or aboveground, going from dome to dome. I used the name Frazier but sometimes changed it up if I thought people were becoming suspicious.”
“No one recognized you?”
“I would grow my hair long, cut it, even shave it bald like Gerald’s from time to time. No one noticed me and I kept my distance. I’m good at blending in.”
“What’s your real name?”
Frazier waved his finger at her. “Now that, my dear, is way too much personal information. I might be willing to share more if you give me something in return, though.” He rubbed the bulge in the front of his pants suggestively.
Nix stiffened at the implication. “I would rather die.”
He stopped walking and jerked on the rope around her neck, forcing her to stop as well. “Don’t think for one second I won’t take what I want. I was just giving you the opportunity to freely offer out of the kindness of my heart. You know if you show your willingness to do as I say to please me I would be more leniant toward you.” Pulling the rope in slowly as he moved closer, he leaned down right in her face. “Honestly, though, I like it when women try to fight me. It makes it so much more exciting and rewarding when I break them.”
She felt shivers race down her spine at his tone and the intensity in his eyes. “You act like you’re so much better than Drastans, but our people would never abuse females.”
He snorted in disbelief, “Your people have traitors in their midst, just like us. They lie, steal, manipulate, and are responsible for deaths just as much as my people are. My goal is to eventually become the leader of my world. Once I force the Drastans to depart, my people will celebrate and recongize me as a true patriot. Your people are traitors who want to destroy your world and everything it stands for through their own treachery and betrayal of your ideals. If I was your commander, I would seek out those traitors and execute them. The fact that Estro hasn’t done jack shit shows him to be a weak leader. He deserves to be removed from his position.”
Nix tried to hit him, but he jerked the rope on her neck again, causing it to tighten and cut off her air supply. When she stopped struggling, he released her and she coughed as air slowly refilled her lungs. “Don’t talk about the commander like that! He’s a better male than you will ever be.”
Frasier frowned. “What is the commander to you? He’s too old to be a lover. Or is he?”
Glaring at him she answered, “He’s been like a father to me.”
“What I don’t understand is how this supposedly great leader thought it would be a good idea to send out a woman to do a man’s job. If he cares for you like a daughter than he’s a shitty father figure.”
“I’m a warrior. I don’t need balls to do the job, Commander Estro believes in my abilities as a warrior. I don’t have to threaten or beat someone to prove my worth. I’m better than that.” Her tone made it clear that she felt that she was better than him and he easily picked up on that and grew red in the face with anger.
He slapped her across the face—hard. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to protect herself. It infuriated her. If her bindings were off, she would kick his crazy ass.
“You will speak to me with respect or I will shut your mouth, maybe permanently,” Frazier yelled at her. He hit her face again and she felt like she was going to throw up. Fear raced down her spine as she realized for the first time she might not make it out of there alive. She said nothing, using her sleeve to wipe the blood from her face. Frazier ignored her and took a moment to speak with his men.
Nix was grateful for the reprieve, ready to take full advantage of their temporary separation. She pulled out the sharp rock she had found and used it to cut her thumb. The small rock fit in the palm of her hand and she could hide it in her pocket. Leaning against the side of the underground corridor, she wiped her blood on the wall. She had started out just rubbing her body on every wall, seat, or corner, hoping to leave her heat signature, but a blood trail would be even better. She knew her people would be looking for her. Corey would be looking for her. That was one thing she absolutely knew about Corey: if he cared for someone, he would never give up on looking for them. He would find her, she just had to stay alive.
She remembered those words he said to her at their first meeting. “Lieutenant Saber, I am all yours.” Those words had haunted her ever since. What she hadn’t realized at that time was that she would be his as well. She belonged to Warrior Corey Nash from Earth; body, heart and soul. She loved him and wanted nothing more than to be in his arms again, preferably telling him how she felt about him while naked in a bed.
She jerked away from the wall when Frazier yanked on the rope he held. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of what she would like to do to him and that damn rope. Oh...so many possibilities. All of them ending with Frazier begging for his life.
“Come on, pet, we have places to go, people to see, and things to do.”
The way he said that last bit gave her the creeps. Yeah, she could just imagine what things he wanted to do to her and they weren’t pleasant. She would rather die than let him touch her. She had never been treated this way before. Nothing had prepared her for this experience. Then she remembered overhearing Maggie talking to her friend Lily about something that happened to her when she was much younger. Lily had asked Maggie how she got through it and Maggie’s response had stayed with her.
“I wanted to live. I refused to give up, so I did what I had to and survived.”
Those were wise words from a person who had been so young when she was attacked. Nix wanted to live, too. She hardened her resolve. She refused to just give up and let death take her, not when she had so much to live for. She was no longer going through the motions for a father who never wanted her, or even for her career as a trainer for the warriors. Corey was her inspiration; she would live for Corey. A family had been the last thing on her mind growing up because she never had one she could call as her own, but Corey made her think about having a family of her own, a family with him. It appealed to her.
She followed the human males as they took a ladder to an upper level, into what she thought would be another subway tunnel. Surprise flashed across her face as she saw them heading toward a subway exit stairwell. They were going topside.
Chapter 16
Corey was waiting at the subway exit for Warrior Davens to return. Voices coming from the rig
ht caught his attention and he turned to watch as Liam and Quinn Estro walked up, accompanied by a third man who he assumed was Sr. Commander Bond. Liam made the introductions.
“Warrior Corey Nash, this is Sr. Commander Bond.”
Corey shook hands with the commander who was assessing him. “Thank you for coming.”
“How goes the search for Lieutenant Saber?” Commander Bond asked.
“We believe we are less than twenty minutes behind them. They’ve tried to mislead us quite a few times but Lieutenant Saber was able to leave clues behind to help us track her.”
“What kind of clues?” Liam asked.
“Her blood was found periodically through the corridors where we were tracking their heat signatures. It helped greatly to point in the right direction.”
“Her blood?” Sr. Commander Bond looked shocked.
Corey nodded. “She’s a very smart warrior, she left small amounts for us to find. Some on the walls, a few drops on the ground. Once she even used her blood to make an arrow to point in the direction that they took.”
“Why are we at the exit for the subway station? I would have thought they were taking her to another tribe, or maybe even a dome,” Lieutenant Quinn Estro asked curiously.
“Her blood trail and heat signatures have led us here. I believe that they went aboveground.”
All three of the Drastan men looked at one another in confusion. Liam shook his head in denial. “That can’t be right. Why would they go aboveground when it’s still so contaminated with radiation? Nothing grows up there.”
“I have an idea but I would need for you to answer me honestly.” Corey had a suspicion that the reason they had been sent to the tunnel construction sites hadn’t been fully revealed to either him or Nix. The Estros were holding something back and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
Liam stiffened, but responded with a question of his own. “What have I not told the truth about?”