by KD Jones
Oh hell no, Liam wasn’t getting out of having to answer him. His secrets could cost Nix her life. Corey stepped toward Liam, determined to get the truth. “We were sent here to check on the construction sites. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Liam answered, but there was hesitancy in his voice.
“It was more than just doing a check up on the progress. What was really happening at the construction sites that you wanted us to investigate? Don’t you think we would have been better prepared if we’d known what we were looking for? Was this whole thing a set-up?”
Liam was silent. That was definitely telling. Corey was frustrated that Liam would still hold back information even after Nix had been taken. Apparently he wasn’t the only one frustrated with Liam’s refusal to answer.
“Captain Estro, answer the question,” Sr. Commander Bond snapped.
Sighing, Liam ran a hand through his hair. “We had reports that some of the materials and equipment were going missing. It started with just one or two tribe locations reporting missing small amounts, so we thought it was just miscounting or misplacing. Then it started spreading to more and more tribes undergoing construction. The amount of supplies missing increased and even more equipment was being taken. What confused us the most was that no one seemed to see anything, and even the security feeds we set up had moments of blurred or fuzzy images. My father, Commander Estro, met with his strategists, who advised him to keep this quiet until it was confirmed by someone we trusted implicitly—you and Lieutenant Saber were to be as unbiased as possible.”
“Why not just tell us this from the beginning?”
“The strategists didn’t want to taint your investigation.”
“In other words, they didn’t want to believe that humans could be stealing equipment out from under your noses. It would be an embarrassment to them if it got out. It might also inspire others to steal.”
“Yes.”
“We should have been made aware of what we were getting into. The resistance rebels are not just trying to stop progress on the tunnels and tribal living quarters; I believe they are trying to build a base aboveground.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“While we stopped at a couple of tribes, I got information that workers were being taken aboveground for work they were told was top secret. I was also told that some of the air purifier systems had gone missing and had to be re-ordered from the command ship. Those supplies and equipment were clearly being put to use elsewhere, and I believe that the resistance leader is using them to build a base somewhere above ground.”
Quinn looked disbelieving. “Why not build a base below ground where it’s safer?”
Corey shook his head, “We have been searching for the resistance in the domes and the tunnels. The one place we’re not looking for them is…”
Liam finished for him. “Above ground.”
“Exactly. It’s the one place none of us would expect them to be. With the supplies, equipment, and especially the air purifiers, they could easily build such a place. It would be hard to find it to because of all the radiation.”
Liam paced back and forth. “It would have to be close enough to walk to. They wouldn’t be able to survive walking long distances in the radiation.”
“Unless they took body suits to protect them,” Quinn muttered.
“But we haven’t had missing suits reported, and we’ve made a rule to not keep extras around while working the tunnels,” Liam responded.
Warrior Davens approached and Corey introduced him to the other three men. “Warrior Davens has been extremely helpful in the search for Nix...Lieutenant Saber.”
“The above ground transport is here and ready to go.”
“Great, have the warriors you sent ahead caught sight of them yet?”
“No, but they are keeping track of their coordinates in case the storm comes back this way and clears out their tracks. The heat signatures are no longer showing up aboveground.”
“What about the blood trail?”
“They reported that they have not found any new traces of Lieutenant Saber’s blood.”
Damn, he hoped they found her soon. The longer she was in the hands of this guy, the worse the chances were of them getting her back unharmed. He would get her back alive; he wouldn’t settle for anything else.
As they went up the stairway to exit the subway station, Liam pulled him to the side, away from the others. “Corey, how did this happen? How did she get taken? Why weren’t you with her?”
“I take full blame. I should have been with her. Nix insisted on talking to the medics about treating one of the guys that had attacked us the first day. She wanted me to talk to the tribe leader to get a feel for anything unusual. We split up.”
“I don’t understand why you didn’t immediately notify us that you were attacked.”
“We had been attacked while above ground and were out in the open when a radiation storm came through. Nix had just sent the shuttle to a different location to keep anyone from stealing it when the attack began. The storm interfered with our communicators. We also lost our only computer during the storm. We had to walk to the city when the storm was over.”
“Why didn’t you go to the dome?”
“There was a chance that our attackers were watching the domes, expecting us to show up there for aid. We decided we couldn’t risk it, so we headed for a different end of the tunnels than we had planned to visit. We felt that we should try to continue on with our mission while keeping our eyes and ears open for any information about the resistance attack. We lucked out that someone reported hearing about a man seeking healers for injuries similar to those that of one of our attackers. We went immediately to question the man. The rest you know.”
“One more question.”
“What?” Corey asked, impatient. He wanted to get back on the road to tracking down Nix.
“What the hell happened between you and Nix? I can smell her all over you.”
Well, fuck! He’d forgotten about the heightened Drastan sense of smell. He hadn’t planned on exposing their relationship just yet. Not until he was actually sure that he and Nix were on the same page about what they had. He wanted a real relationship, but did she? Did Nix want him too? He couldn’t afford to think about any of that until they found her, though.
“We’ve been attracted to each other for a while. Something did happen, but that’s between me and Nix, and it can definitely wait until we get her back.”
“Here’s a warning, then, Nash: I won’t allow you to hurt her. She’s family to me, like a sister.”
“I don’t want to hurt her, but I’m not about to tell you my feelings for her before I have a chance to tell them to her.”
Liam growled, clearly not completely satisfied with Corey’s response, but he nodded sharply and moved toward the transport waiting for them. Corey worried that Nix would try to escape, or worse, take on the men who had her. So far, their sensors read eight heat signatures. Nix was a great fighter, but there was no way she could take on seven men on her own.
He whispered low, “Hold on, babe, we’re coming for you. Please be careful.”
Chapter 17
Frazier was seriously crazy, Nix had decided. They had been walking aboveground for almost an hour. Frazier and his men didn’t seem to be worried about the exposure to radiation at all. Where were they going? The nearest dome that she knew of was in the opposite direction, as was the closest subway station entrance.
“How long are we going to be walking up here?”
“We’re almost home, pet.”
“Home? What home are you talking about?” She froze in mid-stride, only to be jerked back into motion. The building they had been approaching had initially appeared to be like the rest of the city, with partially destroyed walls, bricks and stones falling down everywhere. It looked like the usual ruins left over from the nuclear disaster. But then something shiny on the other side of the half-collapsed walls caught her eyes as they go
t closer. “What in the hell…”
“Do you like it, pet? My people have been working hard to build it. We’re missing a few more elements...but we’ll have those soon enough. We’re almost moved in already.”
She got closer and saw more of it. The shiny thing that had caught her eye was actually the metallic side of another building. It had no windows, just a door with secure locks and security cameras mounted above it. There weren’t any people standing guard on the outside, but the way the males walked in a strategic path to the door made her think the ground there was probably seeded with traps.
By the stars! The resistance rebels were building their own base aboveground. Did Commander Estro know about anything about this? All she and Corey were told about the mission was there had been issues at the construction sites. It was true that Corey had found out from the people in the tribes that some supplies and equipment were missing, but to build something like this… it would have to be a lot of supplies and equipment taken, not to mention the need for workers to build all of it. With the radiation storms, it would be hard to locate the base from the command ship. This was not good.
They waited until the secure lock was deactivated by someone inside the building. The door opened to reveal a thin older man with a gun in his hand. He looked at Frazier, then at Nix. Surprise shown in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything, just moved to the side to let them in. Entering the building, she noticed that it had twelve-foot ceilings. The hallway opened up immediately into a large room with a table and chairs. There were cots to one side of the room, while the other side had a kitchenette. She also counted five closed doors, though she had no idea where they led. This place was definitely bigger on the inside than it’s disguised appearance outside indicated.
The man who opened the door finally spoke. “We’ve made progress with the lower level, but the digging machine broke.”
“Send men to get another one.”
Crap! They were digging their own tunnels. That would make it even more difficult to track them. She looked for signs of where they were digging. There was a place on the opposite side of the room where it looked like a handle was set into the floor. She couldn’t see it clearly, though; she needed to get closer.
“Yes sir.” The man looked at Nix with a mixture of fear, curiosity, and anger. “What is she doing here?”
“I’ve decided to keep her.”
“Keep her? Like a pet?”
“Yes, she’s my pet. Mine. Tell the others that no one else is to touch her but me. If they do, I’ll rip their hands off and stuff their mouths with the appendages.”
“She’s a distraction, Frazier.”
Frazier, clearly enraged at being spoken to this way, stepped up into the other male’s space. “I’m the leader here. If you don’t like how I run things, we can find you somewhere else to go.”
Nix felt shivers go down her spine at Frazier’s casual menace. He would send the male somewhere else, sure, but it wouldn’t be any place on Earth. She could see that the males surrounding her were tired, desperate, and dangerous. But Frazier was worse than all of them combined, because he was clever and ambitious. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill one of his own if they defied him in any way. She had to continue to play the helpless female a little longer, until she could find a way to escape without having to take on so many men.
Frazier took the rope and pulled her along showing her the building. “This is the kitchenette; I’ll have one of the men fix you something to eat as long as you behave. We have two bathrooms with shower stalls but we haven’t got the water set up yet. It’s still pretty new. That’s our bedroom over there, so we’ll have lots of privacy.”
Our bedroom? She clenched her fists. Privacy was the last thing she wanted right now, at least with him. Instead of arguing that she wouldn’t be staying, she asked, “What are those rooms for?” She pointed to the two doors to the left of his indicated bedroom.
He strode with cocky pride to one door and opened it negligently. “This is where we store food and clothing, boring stuff, really.” He then walked to the next door and opened it with far more enthusiasm. “This is where the fun is.”
She walked inside and took a slow turn, taking in the room with horror at what she was seeing. There were wall-to-wall shelves filled with human guns, explosives, ammunition, as well as Drastan blasters and timers for explosives. The resistance had an armory and was building their own underground network. This was bad. A motion at the door had her backing up against one of the shelves.
“What the hell are you doing showing her our weapons?” the thin man yelled. He pointed a gun at her.
Frazier turned his back on her, dropping his hold on the rope. “What did I tell you about questioning my authority?”
The man realized his mistake, immediately trying to backtrack. “But she...she’s the enemy. We can’t just let her walk in and see all our secrets!”
Frazier lashed out, hitting the man in the chin and knocking him out of the armory. Frazier followed after him, not yet finished. The thin man tried to strike back. The two of them clutched at each other, twisting and trying to tip the other over. They both went down, falling into the central area of the main room. The other men circled around, watching and getting ready to help their leader, but from where she was standing, able to see over the shoulders of the other men, he didn’t need any help.
Taking advantage of their distraction, she worked the bindings off her wrists and glanced around the armory, taking swift stock of what she had to work with. She wanted to escape while they were still distracted, but she also couldn’t allow them to keep all these weapons. Drastans could die, and humans definitely would die, if they attacked her people, and then tensions between the humans and Drastans would spiral out of control and force Commander Estro to do something more drastic. She could see it now. She had no choice; she had to take out the armory before she could leave. Her eyes lit on something that could be quite useful.
A plan bloomed in her mind, and she acted on it immediately. She knew she wouldn’t have much more time alone. She could already hear the fight breaking up. She knew Frazier better now and was certain that even if the guy challenging him didn’t end up dead as a result of the fight, his life was definitely forfeit. It was the risk a person took when they decide to follow a madman like Frazier, especially if they then dared to question his authority. Lights flashed and a beeping sounded from one of the speakers above her head. Her time alone was up. Frazier came in and grabbed a weapon, then caught up the end of the rope, pulling her behind him.
“Everyone grab a weapon!” Frazier yelled.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Your buddies have found us out.”
She couldn’t help but feel thrilled that Corey was there. She sincerely hoped he hadn’t come alone, though. No, she reassured herself, he wouldn’t do that, she trained him better than that.
Frazier pulled her to the last closed door in the room. It opened into a room filled with with monitors, so this it must be their security area. There were apparently cameras positioned outside in many locations around the building, not just over the front door. She watched the monitors along with Frazier and his men.
“There! I see movement over at the third building to the right,” the man sitting at the console said.
“How did they find us? We covered our tracks and made decoys to throw them off.” Frazier glared at his men, then at her. She met his eyes defiantly. “What did you do?”
She shrugged. “Hey, I’ve been tied up the whole time.”
He grabbed her hands and found the cuts on most of her digits. “You left a blood trail and now your Drastan hound dogs have tracked us down!”
“Told you she was trouble,” the thin man groaned from the doorway. He was clutching at his ribs, which were probably broken.
The building suddenly shook as a blaster was fired at the door. “How are the locks holding up?”
“Good so far.”
Fr
azier pointed at one of his men. “Take her to my bedroom and lock her in.”
The injured man tried to block the doorway. “We should give her to them. It would be distraction enough to allow us long enough to escape.”
“We’re not running, we’re holding our ground. It will be the first test of how well we can hold up against the enemy.”
“This is suicide! Kill the bitch and leave her here for the Drastan assholes so we can get away!”
Frazier calmly raised his gun and shot the thin man in the middle of his forehead. Everyone in the room stared in shock as the thin man fell to the ground.
“Take her to my room!” Frazier ordered, already turning away, completely unconcerned.
Nix was jerked into motion by the rope around her neck and she grimaced as she stumbled over the dead body on the floor. An explosion from outside the building had her jumping. “What was that?”
“We planted mines around the building. We must have gotten one of those bastards!”
Fear filled her at the thought Corey might have been blown up. She had to make her move and escape. She just had to wait for the right moment.
Chapter 18
“Damn it!” Corey yelled. A few of the Drastan warriors had been rushing the building when one of them stepped on a hidden explosive, making it go off. These bastards had set traps for them.
Liam yelled at his warriors. “Pull back now!”
Sr. Commander Bond acted. “We need to scan for more mines and traps. Get the sensors and spread out. Do not move without the command.”
“Yes sir!” one of the warriors answered before running off.
Corey paced back and forth in frustration. Thanks to that warrior’s mistake, their presence was now known, losing them whatever element of surprise they might have had. Would the leader retaliate and kill Nix?
“We’ll get her out of there,” Liam told him, coming up and putting a calming hand on his shoulder.
Corey shook it off. He didn’t want to be calm, he wanted to get his woman back. Okay, that was totally caveman thinking, but he couldn’t help it, he loved her. He didn’t know what the future held for either of them, but he wanted the opportunity to find out. He was desperate to do something.