by Gail Koger
“My ETA is about ninety minutes.”
I shook my head. “I can’t wait that long. I have to retrieve my mother before Nilus gets his slimy hands on her.”
Every inch a warlord, Quinn commanded, “You will do as you’re told.”
He seriously thought he could order me about? I made a rude noise. “Not a chance.”
“Are you suicidal?”
“Suicidal? No. Determined? Yes. I promised my father I would protect my mother.”
“Have you forgotten you’re outnumbered and outgunned? You won’t do your mother any good if you’re dead.”
“Has it slipped your tiny little mind that I’m an illusionist?”
“And a fire starter,” Detja inserted. “Lysis trained Xenia. She is a very capable warrior.”
A no-nonsense glint in his eyes, Quinn’s asked, “Are you planning on carrying your mother across the sand on your back?”
The arrogant Coletti needed a good smack upside his head. On the other view screen, I noticed Detja rolling her eyes. “I have a hover bike and a device that summons the var bugs. Anyone gets too close, and they will soon be doing the funky chicken itch dance,” I replied testily.
A surprised look flashed across Quinn’s face. “You’ve been to Earth?”
“We actually lived on Earth for a while.”
“Where?”
“Utah, Mexico, and then Egypt. Mami was fascinated by the pyramids.” On the surveillance camera, I noticed Nilus’s warriors running down a passageway. I grinned as they ran smack dab into Dolon, knocking him on his butt.
My uncle took one look at the horde of var bugs chasing them and shrieked like a little girl. Jumping to his feet, he tore off down the corridor with the warriors right on his heels.
I watched in disbelief as they ran around in circles, trying to lose the hungry bugs. Which was an impossible task. Believe me, I knew. “While they’re busy trying to evade the hungry insects, I’ll slip out and go after my mother.”
“Nilus will still be able to track you,” Quinn warned.
“Will he?” I touched an icon on my console, and a holographic keyboard appeared. I typed in a series of commands and hit Enter. A second later, ultrasonic waves bombarded Nilus’s ship. Within minutes, millions of var bugs covered every inch of the hull. The noise was cacophonous.
Detja looked at her screens and laughed. “Very clever. The sound distorts the ship’s scanners.”
“My father is an expert in battle tactics, and he came up with this technique.”
“Effective,” Quinn admitted.
I touched my bracelet and my biosuit reformed. “Promise me you will help me find my father, Quinn Jones.”
“You have my word.”
“Thank you.” As warlords went, he wasn’t too bad.
“Don’t get dead on me. I still have to take you back to Tanith,” Quinn growled.
Then again… I gave him the one-finger salute and walked into the armory. I could hear Detja scolding Quinn as I geared up for battle. My weapons belt contained two laser pistols, grenades, knives, and an ultrasonic bug caller. I pulled a laser rifle off the rack and checked the charge.
“Keep our link open,” Detja instructed.
“Yes, my lady.” Ignoring Quinn’s scowl, I punched in a passcode on the command console. The wall slid back, revealing a tunnel and two hover bikes.
Quinn grumbled, “You remind me of my sister, Kaylee. Nothing scares her either. She’s always getting into trouble.”
Trouble? I eyed Quinn angrily. “I will fight to the death to protect those I love. Are you any different?”
“No, but how many battles have you fought in?” When I started to answer, Quinn interjected, “Without your father’s help?”
“None.”
“My point exactly,” Quinn said sarcastically. “You will charge in without a thought to the consequences.”
“I will do what is necessary to keep my mother safe.”
Quinn snorted. “And get your ass shot off. Wait for me.”
“No.”
“Stupidity is not a virtue.”
The first chance I got I was stunning his ass. “You need to get laid. It might improve your disposition.” I gave myself a mental head smack. Goddess, where in the nine hells had that come from?
A smile curved Quinn’s mouth. “You offering, darlin’?”
“Not in this lifetime.” My love life might suck, but taking on a dictatorial, bad- tempered Coletti warrior was sheer madness. A sigh escaped me. No matter how attractive I found him.
“You’ve never been kissed, have you?”
My jaw dropped. What? One look at the devilry in Quinn’s eyes, and I knew he enjoyed provoking me. “That is none of your business.” My duties didn’t allow time for romance, and keeping Mami safe was a full-time job.
Quinn smirked. “Pucker up, sweetheart. It’s an easy fix.”
I started the hover bike and zoomed off. I was definitely stunning him. Twice.
Chapter Four
Omnipresent red dust swirled in the wind. The setting sun turned the sky a gritty orange. I brought my hover bike to a stop by an eroded angle of granite that protruded from the sand like a giant finger giving the universe the bird. I quickly climbed to the top and psychically scanned Dolon’s ship. Drekk. Four of Nilus’s warriors were inside with my mother. Oh Goddess, Mami was probably freaking out or unconscious.
I needed a diversion. Triggering my ultrasonic bug caller, I waited until thousands of var bugs answered my summons and scrambled down the rock. They followed behind me like well-trained pets.
Quinn’s gruff voice sounded from my communications earbud, “Damn. You’re an alien version of the Pied Piper.”
How flattering. “I do not steal children.”
“Prickly little thing, aren’t you?”
“Only when I’m dealing with conceited know-it-alls like you.” My berserker senses sent a mental warning. The image of a badly sunburned warrior leaving the ship formed in my mind. Which meant I had about sixty seconds to prepare. I pulled my weapon and approached cautiously.
A warrior with a blister-covered face exited the ship, saw me, and went for his laser pistol.
I dropped to the ground, rolled, and fired.
The beam hit the warrior dead in the chest. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his body disintegrated into a million fireflies.
“Nice shootin’,” Quinn commented.
“Goddess, was that a compliment?”
“Don’t get cocky; you’re still outnumbered.”
“Yes, my lord,” I replied sarcastically, and used Papa’s handy scanner override to enter the ship. Keeping their distance, the bugs trailed me, clicking hungrily.
Throwing up an illusion of Nilus, an attractive, older male with cold, dead eye, I strutted down the hallway.
Three of Nilus’s thugs came to attention when they saw me.
Dropping my voice an octave, I demanded, “Where is the female?”
A warrior with a horrific scar across his face pulled his weapon. “You’re not Nilus. Who are you?”
“Your worst nightmare.” I tossed the bug caller at them. “Welcome to the nine hells.” I altered my illusion and it appeared as if I had vanished.
Scarface’s eyes widened in surprise. “Where did he go?”
Too busy looking for me, he failed to notice the var bugs surging up the walls and onto the ceiling. As one, they dropped onto the warriors, rapidly covering them from head to toe. Their horrified cries joined with the hissing clicks and created a scene right out of an Earth horror movie.
“Shit! They’re worse than a pack of ravenous wolves,” Quinn declared.
“There’s not much to eat on Qeeturah except iplo lizards, and they in turn eat the bugs.” My stomach rolled when a bug disappeared up Scarface’s nose. That was beyond nasty.
“Starving critters and a hostile environment. Makes for the perfect ge
taway,” Quinn said a little too cheerfully.
“Your getaway destination also includes hurricane-force winds, major sandstorms, and temperatures that can rise to 140 degrees.”
“I was raised in Arizona. I’m used to scorching temperatures and sandstorms,” Quinn replied.
“Been there. My mother insisted Papa and I investigate the Superstition Mountains in the dead of summer. Qeeturah’s heat beats Arizona’s hands down.”
Quinn snorted. “Hot is hot.”
“Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee! Aiieeeee!” The thugs broke into a wild jig as they battled feverishly to get rid of the hungry critters.
“Get in the cell!” Scarface yelled to his warriors.
I watched as they retreated into the holding cell and engaged the energy barrier. Scarface wasn’t a complete dumbass.
Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap! Hundreds of bugs committed suicide on the glowing energy field.
Mami was curled up in the corner of the cell, watching as the warriors stomped, smashed, and crushed the bugs that had followed them in.
I dropped my illusion for a moment and put my finger to my lips.
Relief filled Mami’s eyes when she spotted me.
Scarface plucked an insect off his face and noticed my mother was untouched. “Why aren’t the bugs attacking you?”
“I didn’t desecrate the sacred places,” Mami answered, trembling badly.
I became a rotting corpse crawling with maggots and wailed, “Leave this place or die.”
Scarface jumped about a foot, yanked out his pistol, and fired at me. The beam was absorbed by the energy barrier. “You can’t be real. It’s some kind of trick.”
“Looks real to me,” his buddy muttered.
The third warrior backed away. “No one said anything about ghosts.”
I added a gruesome black snake slithering out of my left eye socket to the illusion. “Death is the price for violating our burial site.” The snake hissed, exposing nasty-looking fangs.
“Not real! Not real!” His eyes rolling in fear, Scarface kept firing at me until a bug latched onto his nose. He squished it and hopped up and down on the remaining insects like a demented jackrabbit. “Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!”
When the last bug had been killed, I deactivated the energy barrier.
The remaining var bugs rushed in.
The warriors freaked out, frenetically trying to knock the starving insects off their exposed flesh.
Quinn laughed. “You are one stone-cold bitch.”
“Yes, I am, and you would be wise not to forget that.” Goddess, I was enjoying his banter way too much.
“Is that a challenge, darlin’?”
“What do you think?” I flattened myself against the wall as the warriors charged out of the holding cell and ran from the ship. The var bugs scuttled after them.
“Not a smart move,” Quinn said. “Don’t they realize there are more varmints waiting for them?”
“Evidently not.” I flinched as thousands of bugs exploded from the sand. I quickly closed and locked the door. “You think the explosions drew the var bugs in?”
“Good possibility.” Static filled Quinn’s transmission.
“Solar flares are interfering with our link.”
“I…hour…out.”
Mami peeked around the doorway. “Are they gone?”
“They are.”
With a sob, Mami threw her arms around me. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I stroked her back. “I know. I know you are. We need to leave before Nilus sends more warriors.”
“Nilus? Here?” Mami stiffened. “Go outside? Where is your father?”
I lied through my teeth. “Papa is busy fighting off Nilus’s warriors. He wants us to wait for him in the bolt-hole.”
“How did Nilus find us?” A flood of tears rolled down my mother’s face. “Oh Goddess. I’m responsible, aren’t I?”
“No, Dolon is. Nilus is a grave robber. Your brother hired him and his henchmen to plunder Qeeturah.” I handed her the Askole bio-belt I had brought from the bolt-hole.
“Henchmen?”
“Jeebito or Tabaw have been helping him rob other finds.”
Mami pulled her bulky dress over her head and wrapped the belt around her waist. “I knew he was a scoundrel. Can’t we go back to our ship?”
Drekk. I quickly tapped her communications bracelet, and her suit covered her. “It’s been damaged.”
“How badly damaged?”
I sidestepped the question. “Papa wants us in the bolt-hole.”
“I’m not a child. I deserve the truth.”
Mami would find out sooner or later. “Nilus destroyed our ship.”
My mother let out a moan and keeled over.
I blew out a long breath. Now I had to carry her.
The lights flickered, and a high-pitched whine sounded.
I frowned. It almost sounded like a transporter. Nah. Transporters were expensive and drew a lot of power. Power I doubted this piece of junk could generate.
“Wake up, Mami.” I patted her face. “Papa is waiting for us.”
The sensation of sudden danger screamed through my senses. Dolon! He did have a transporter. I threw up an invisibility illusion around my mother and me.
Dolon sprinted down the corridor, tripped over my mother’s foot, and did a face-plant on the floor. “Drekk!” Dolan scrambled to his feet and ran into the cockpit.
A minute later, the engines roared to life.
Balock’s balls. I couldn’t let Dolon take off.
The cockpit door slid shut. There was an ominous click.
Every muscle in my body tensed. Did Dolon know we were on board? Duh. I gave myself a head smack. He wouldn’t have locked the door unless he knew. Grabbing Mami, I threw her over my shoulder and hurried to the transporter room. We had to get off my uncle’s ship before we were out of transporter range.
Luckily, all my uncle’s henchmen were dead, and I didn’t have to fight my way in. The icy-cold room held an old one-person transporter platform and control console. I eased Mami down on the pad and hurried over to the controls. I’d send her first. I typed the coordinates for the bolt-hole into the keypad.
The ship tilted radically as it did an emergency launch. I grabbed ahold of the console.
Mami slid off the platform.
I tightened my grip as the craft shuddered and shook and made a weird whirring clatter.
The vessel reached escape velocity, but the whirring noise got louder. Balock’s balls. Dolon was pushing the engines too hard. He probably realized Nilus wanted him dead and was trying to get out of range of Nilus’s laser cannons. We had to get off this ship now. I dragged Mami back up on the platform.
Her eyes fluttered. “Lysis?”
“Stay put, Mami.” I darted around the console and shoved the control lever to the Send position. A glittering blue light appeared, and my mother vanished. I grinned. Quinn was going to have his hands full with her.
I put the transporter on auto-send and stepped on the platform. For a brief moment, my molecules started to break apart. The light vanished abruptly.
“Consider yourself my guest,” Dolon said mockingly from the speakers.
Jumping off the platform, I quickly checked the settings on the command console, and my shoulders sagged. Dolon had cut the power supply. A white vapor suddenly spewed from the vents. Sleeping gas. The room spun dizzily. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor. The cold, wet vapor clung to me, making it difficult to breathe.
“What to do with you? Decisions. Decisions,” Dolon gloated. “Do I eject you out the airlock or sell you to the slavers?”
Drekk! I tried to get my feet under me, but my limbs refused to obey me.
“I’m going to have to think on it awhile. Sleep tight.”
Everything faded to black.
Chapter Five
> Pain radiated through my head, and my lungs burned. A violent coughing fit shook me. Why was it so hard to breathe? What had happened? Where was I? Forcing my eyes open, I stared at the glowing energy barrier and groaned. Why was I in a cell? Had I been arrested again?
“Have I got a treat for you,” Dolon’s hate-filled voice growled from the speakers.
My memories returned with a vengeance. Dolon had gassed me. “You’re going to kill yourself?”
My uncle spewed some extremely creative curses. He stopped to draw a breath and off he went again. Some of his suggestions were anatomically impossible and icky.
I patted my pocket. Thank the Goddess I still had the portable med kit. I pulled it out, pressed the device against my neck and activated it. The kit chirped, and thirty seconds later, the burning sensation in my chest faded away, along with my killer headache.
Dolon kept on screaming obscenities.
He was definitely losing his grip on sanity. I glanced down. Drekk. My communications bracelet and weapons were gone. I felt naked without them. Just my luck. Dolon wasn’t a complete moron. I got to my feet and studied the control panel for the energy barrier. I might be able to hack it.
Dolon’s tirade finally stopped. “You’ve got a smart mouth. I would sever your vocal cords, but I want to be able to listen to your screams.”
“Feeling the love, Uncle.”
“Love? You? Or your mother? Here’s a tip. Family is good for one thing. Getting me credits. Lots of credits.” Dolon chuckled evilly. “You’ll be happy to know I’ve made my decision. I’ve decided to take you to Jandjviles.”
“The slave markets?”
“I have to recoup my losses, don’t I?”
My hands curled into fists. He was a dead man. “You lost nothing.”
“The treasure!” Dolon shouted. “It should have been mine.”
“It was never yours, and you’re the fool who led Nilus to Qeeturah,” I spat.
“Jeebito and Tabaw sold me out.”
“That’s because one of them was Nilus’s partner in crime.”
My uncle grumbled, “I didn’t know that.”
“Did you bother to check them out before you hired them?”
“Shut up, you drekking whore. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the bugs.” Dolon’s voice seethed with fury. “You should have warned me, Xenia. For that reason alone, I’m selling you to the Tai-Kok. You’ll make a tasty treat.”